Breaking Fake News Update (v18)

 Fake News Broke on September 7,2025

So, what's going on here? Do we really need to tariff chalk at the same level as drug prices are allegedly coming down?  You bet we do!

Florida cities are busy trying to remove all of their 'street art,' in an effort to satisfy both Department of Transportation Secretary Sean 'Lumberjack' Duffy and their Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

Sidewalk art, such as that in Orlando remembering those lost at the Pulse nightclub anti-LBGTQ mass shooting, a memorial to a high school student, and even one supporting police, were scrubbed out last month, some of them several times, as passionate citizens kept recoloring them.

At least for a while, and maybe still, law enforcement officers were 'guarding' the sidewalks, keeping their communities safe from the dastardly threat of rainbow colors, which have been deemed more distracting than, say, 

• touch screens in cars that are larger than my television, or
• this Florida Man's car, or 
• any of the rolling rallies that have been held for 45/FOTUS over the years, and even
• seeing our National Guard troops fighting landscaping crime in DC.

Somehow, the smaller, leaner, more efficient federal government that everyone likes to say they voted for seems to enjoy being knee-deep in the weeds, and, of course, threatening everyone that they'll lose their taxpayer funding if they don't toe the FOTUS line.

That last part? Not fake news, as we've seen. But rest assured, if there's fake news to report, we'll be on it!

TGIF 4/7/23

It's been nearly a month since I last posted.  Much has changed in my life in that time, and I'm struggling to find a reason to write, much less trying to figure out what to write about. It occurred to me, though, that writing about anything is almost certainly better for me than not writing at all.  

And so, it starts again.

Usually, I stay home while My Sweet Baboo makes the run to our favorite Lenten fish fry, but today I went with him to pick up our orders. I waited near the table where a gentleman was selling tickets for a couple of fundraisers. 

A man approached the table to get tickets, and the two struck up a conversation. I could only hear the ticket seller's part of it and was surprised when I clearly heard, "We've got to get rid of the damn liberals..."

I sat up a bit straighter, I did - and then I remembered where I was, and I remembered I was just there to get some fish and support the organization, and not to get into a fight while I waited, so I behaved - I didn't even laugh.

I did, however, think of a few things as I sat there. For example:

Get rid of the damn liberals, you say? 

It is not the damn liberals demanding that all children who want to participate in athletics must expose their genitals to a stranger.

It is not the damn liberals stripping parents of their rights to raise their children and get them age-appropriate medical care.

It is not the damn liberals having bounty hunters chase your wife, daughter, or sister around to find out when she had her last menstrual period.

It is not the damn liberals policing doctors instead of protecting schoolchildren.

It is not the damn liberals allowing teenagers to carry concealed handguns without a background check or training. 

It is not the damn liberals stripping people of their right to representation in state legislators. 

It is not the damn liberals threatening to impeach a judge who just won an election. 

It's not the damn liberals calling to defund the Justice Department, the FBI, or the IRS.

It's not the damn liberals calling for death and destruction in America, calling the US a third-world country, or pretending they are above the law. 

It's not the damn liberals saying and doing all of the above and proclaiming themselves to be patriotic Americans at the same time.  

It's not the damn liberals doing all of these things - it's the damn MAGA Republicans.

TGIF, everyone.

Wondering on Wednesday 3/8/23

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Let's dive right into the wonderment, shall we? 

If you've followed me for a while, here or elsewhere on social media, you know I'm a frequent critic of media folks and publications. I don't pretend I can do their jobs better than they do; I just sometimes wish they did their jobs a little better. 

And that's how I felt reading this AP article about a "surreal Twitter exchange" between an employee and chief twit Elon Musk.

Haraldur Thorleifsson, who until recently was employed at Twitter, logged in to his computer last Sunday to do some work — only to find himself locked out, along with 200 others. 

After several days of not hearing from the company whether or not he had been fired, Thorleifsson decided that publicly engaging Musk might get him the information he was looking for. 

Eventually, he got his answer after a surreal Twitter exchange with Musk, who proceeded to quiz him about his work, question his disability and need for accommodations (Thorleifsson, who goes by “Halli,” has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair) and tweet that Thorleifsson has a “prominent, active Twitter account and is wealthy” and the “reason he confronted me in public was to get a big payout.” While the exchange was going on, Thorleifsson said he received an email that he was no longer employed.

There's more to the story, and the article covers it all. Here's what I'm wondering: why write an article about a Twitter exchange, surreal or otherwise, and not include a link to the tweets? 

News is out that Walmart is closing its last two Portland, OR stores.

The closures come after Walmart CEO Doug McMillion said in 2022 that record-breaking retail theft has hit the company’s economic performance and could lead to store closures. “Theft is an issue. It’s higher than what it has historically been,” McMillion said, adding that “prices will be higher and/or stores will close” if authorities don’t crack down on shoplifting crimes.

Maybe it's just me, but it seems kind of obvious to wonder whether the company considered hiring security guards instead of greeters and employing cashiers instead of leaving it up to customers to do the work.

NY's Gov. Kathy Hochul has put forward changes to our state's bail reform law. A key change? Getting rid of  "the so-called 'least restrictive' standard for judges when considering bail." 

It's going to be a battle with her own party; "Democratic leaders have called for ways to address underlying issues surrounding crime, such as poverty, housing, and mental health," while Hochul is looking to make the law itself fairer. 

It depends on the judge and the political leanings or the philosophical leanings, or the judicial leanings of a judge versus looking at commonsense, commonly accepted criteria.

I can't help wondering why so many Dems disagree with her. After all, they're among the first to complain when people 'judge shop' to find a friendly ear for redistricting or gun control cases. Surely, the Dems know that alleged criminals don't have that chance. 

There are probably a couple million folks talking about the spate of 'anti' bills introduced by Republican legislators around the country.

One, in Florida, would ban the use of pronouns "that do not correspond with [a] person’s sex." The guy who submitted the bill said it

would enshrine the “God-given” responsibility of parents to raise their children... The bill also protects students and teachers from being forced to use language that would violate their personal convictions.

I don't have a dog in this hunt, but I have to wonder why we need laws designed to disregard the God-given responsibility of parents who are respectfully raising their children, and to violate the personal convictions and identities of others. 

Tennessee is trying to out-Florida Florida. A bill passed this week would 

require paid drag performers to get a permit before they can take the stage, and would specifically prevent minors from attending their shows...

I didn't have to spend a lot of time wondering how soon drag performers would start acting for free just to be able to host a show without having to go through the permitting process? And it's fun to think about the 'small government, anti-regulation' folks having the tables turned on them, isn't it?

And speaking of protecting minors, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that America's Youngest Governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R- AR), just signed a bill "loosening child labor protections" in her state. 

Under the law, the Youth Hiring Act of 2023, children under 16 do not have to obtain permission from the Division of Labor to get a job. They will no longer need to get an employment certificate, which verified their age, described their work and work schedule, and included written consent from a parent or guardian. Sanders signed the bill into law on Tuesday.

Why was this bill necessary, you might be wondering? Because requiring a permit 

had placed an "arbitrary burden on parents" who needed government permission for their child to get a job. 

If you follow all of this kid-protecting stuff, coming from the same basic political idea gene pool, you're doing better than I want to do.

What are you wondering about tonight?

Wondering on Wednesday 1/25/23

 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Tonight, I'm wondering how many lawyers out there are experienced with classified documents, and how many of them have been retained by current or former government officials? I mean, even former President Jimmy Carter had classified documents found in his house once - and if it can happen to him, is anyone really in the clear?

According to the Associated Press, 

It turns out former officials from all levels of government discover they are in possession of classified material(s) and turn them over to the authorities at least several times a year, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of classified documents.

And sometimes, the folks in charge of handling them correctly are guilty of allowing the documents to be mishandled, which leads me to wonder which group should be under investigation: the handlers or the mishandlers? 

One thing I don't have to wonder about? Whether the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability will be asking for Mike Pence's visitor logs. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen - but I wouldn't be surprised at all if they asked for Jimmy Carter's. 

I will never stop wondering about mass shootings - they've become a familiar fixture here (and only here.) We've had school shootings, Walmart shootings, and house of worship shootings. We've had medical office shootings, entertainment venue shootings, and grocery store shootings. And this month alone, California has seen three mass shootings, with nearly 30 dead. 

You probably didn't hear much about the third one; it was likely gang- or drug-related, which means, you know, "it was their own damn fault" that young mom and her baby were executed along with several other family members. I wonder why the media doesn't talk about that kind of mass shooting so much? Is it because they wouldn't have time to tell us about storms headed for the I-95 corridor?

I also wonder why Democrats rarely mention that kind of shooting? They're very quick to mention 'hate' and 'racism' whenever a shooting involves people of color, even before details are available. Some did that with the Monterey Park shooting; there were no retractions after we learned the shooter was a septuagenarian Asian man. I'm sure they were tempted to do the same with the Half Moon Bay shooting, where another Asian man was behind the killing of Hispanic and Asian farm workers.

Republicans will always mention Chicago when they're in front of microphones, as Rep. Mike McCaul did on CNN's State of the Union, suggesting that red flag laws and strict gun laws aren't the solution. Why don't Dems mention Chicago more, I wonder?

One last thing on guns and another part of my wonderment on all of this. The Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student is planning on suing the school district for its failure to act on multiple concerns raised, by teachers and staff, that the child who did have a gun might have had a gun.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) — Concerned staff warned administrators at a Virginia elementary school three times that a 6-year-old boy had a gun and was threatening other students in the hours before he shot and wounded a teacher, but the administration “was paralyzed by apathy” and didn't call the police, remove the boy from class, or lock down the school, the wounded teacher's lawyer said Wednesday.

“On that day, over the course of a few hours, three different times — three times — school administration was warned by concerned teachers and employees that the boy had a gun on him at the school and was threatening people. But the administration could not be bothered,” Toscano said.

Among the reasons the warnings were ignored? He had little pockets, presumably too small to hold a gun, and it was almost the end of the school day, so there was no need to look harder for the weapon - even though he had threatened another child on the playground. I wonder why, and how, after Uvalde, any school district employee could have such a dismissive attitude about this.

Finally, we learned Pope Francis said that "being homosexual is not a crime" even though "Catholic teaching holds that homosexual acts are a sin." He said the Church "should work to put an end to" laws criminalizing homosexuality. Importantly, he also

stressed the need to distinguish between the two, and said, for example, that lack of charity with one another is also a sin. 

I can't help wondering if anyone will take that part to heart. 

What are you wondering about?

A Future Tale (Part Two)

Part One of this Future Tale began with a woman wandering around her small city, observing and describing the places and people she saw. Here's how that chapter ended.

The old iron gate at the head of the alley looked as if it hadn't been opened in years. Weeds, garbage, broken glass, and more encased the bottom. It was heavy with generations of handprints, rust and dust, soot and exhaust, bird droppings, coffee and alcohol, and who knows what other human or animal excretions. Layered upon layer upon layer, a challenge to the forensic experts, the anthropologists, the historians who might one day try and make sense of it all. 

I stopped by the gate, which stood chest-high and strong. It, too, offered a dare, like the building nearby. "Try me - go ahead, give me a push."  

I looked left and right; nobody was paying any attention. I gave the gate a shove; it didn't move. 

I pushed, harder, then as hard as I could, struggling against time, and weeds, and trash, and crud, and slowly, creakily, it opened. 

I snuck into the alley.

And now, we rejoin our storyteller for Part Two.

I tugged the gate closed behind me; I don't know why, really, but it seemed the right thing to do. Given the difficulty I had getting it open, I was surprised by how easy it was to push it closed. I saw my handprints and fingerprints, which formed the newest layer in the gate's long history; my footsteps would soon be added to those that had already smoothed the grimy cobblestones that made up the alley floor.

Narrow, and long - confusingly long, to be honest - the alley had a curtain of vines hanging over it several feet away from the gate, reminiscent of the beaded ‘curtains’ we used to hang back when I was in college. Or, more in keeping with the mood of the day, reminiscent of the giant spiderwebs we used to accidentally run into playing in the woods as kids; we'd struggle, half screaming half giggling, trying to get the spider's handiwork out of our hair and off our faces. Taking a deep breath, I walked toward, then under the vines.

I slowly picked my way forward, letting my eyes adjust to the uncharacteristic mid-day darkness, trying not to slide on the slippery cobbles under my feet. I walked for what felt like several minutes, dodging the spindly sumacs and scrub maples that popped up randomly, as if testing my mettle. “Does she have what it takes? Can she handle the truth?” I felt the questions, and I resolved to stick it out.

Eventually, I could see faint spots of light up ahead, not way high on the buildings, but at a more human level. I stopped, and after my eyes adjusted, I recognized that I was seeing deeply shaded lights above doorways or recesses in the alley, and I understood that I was nearing what I had been called here, by someone, somehow, to see. 

Tentatively, I walked up to the first light. In the recess, there was a chair, with a dingy hand-lettered sign resting on it: safe abortions performed inside. I paused, startled by the seeming contradiction between the sign's messiness and its promise, and by recollections of the horrible history of back-alley abortions. I was confused; where was I? Had the alley taken me into the past, or was it giving me a glimpse of the future? Was that sign old, or new? I had no idea.

I turned slowly away from the source of my confusion, and looked down the alley. A few feet away, on the other side, was a dim light, bugs flying around it. I was tempted to turn and head back towards that darn iron gate, the thing that drew me here in the first place, but I felt compelled to keep going. 

As I moved across the alley, I saw another sign, this one professionally painted but still dirty, hanging from a nail on the door: Books you can’t read anywhere else. There were several names original to the sign: Angelou, Orwell, Vonnegut, Morrison, Lee, and more, names I recognized. There were others, too, that I had never heard of: Evison, Thomas, Alexie, Spiegelman, Craft, scrawled on the sign with different colored markers. A mix of old and new, another yesterday-today-tomorrow quandary. 

Every recess in the wall, every dirty lightbulb, every door I encountered, brought more of the same.

Our real history

Medical care - no patients refused

Judgment-free zone 

All words welcomed here

Free hot meals

A bed for a night

There were a few more doors, offering only more confusion, until there was only a giant screen hanging in front of me, above my head, filled with images, wonderful and horrible, a cacophony of voices and music and noise, piercing the quiet that had surrounded me in the alley. It was my history, my lifetime, and histories and lifetimes before mine, all jumbled together. Good and evil, love and war, despots and dictators, politicians and orators, their words almost physically assaulting me, surrounding me, deafening me. 

I wanted to get away, to escape, to avoid what was playing out in front of me, but the cobblestones were damp and slimy as I tried to run, the trees were hitting me in the face and arms, and the din moved with me with me as I slipped and slid down the alley, tears and grime streaming down my face. 

Wondering on Wednesday 5/25/22

Right off the bat, I remind everyone that thoughtful discussion is always welcomed here at veritable pastiche, and I warmly encourage your constructive and respectful comments, if you're so inclined. 

Ready... Set... Wonder!

Another day, another school, another group of slaughtered children, another round of thoughts and prayers. And, another round of wondering.

• I wonder how it is that we so readily pass legislation requiring preparation for large-scale threats, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly pass rules requiring us to remove our shoes, have our body physically patted down or x-rayed, and regulating the size of personal products to board airplanes, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass legislation banning social media companies from silencing so-called "conservative thinkers", but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass retribution language against companies who use their corporations are people too' freedom to actually speak out on issues that matter to their customers, employers and investors, but we there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws protecting people from sign-waving, chalk-wielding protestors but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws confining women inside their state borders, to prevent them from seeking medical care in another state, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws preventing parents from providing loving care to their children, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws allowing unlicensed, untrained people to carry guns, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily gerrymander the crap out of our state and federal district maps but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws turning neighbor against neighbor, with cash incentives, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws forcing women to give birth, but there's nothing we can do about the mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily authorize sending tens of billions of dollars to a foreign country, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new legislation "freeing" us from public health mandates, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new legislation cutting health care programs, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass bills encouraging book banning, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new legislation taking tax dollars out of public education, and shifting those dollars to private schools, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass laws allowing just about any professional to refuse to provide services to people they don't like, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily rise to defend statutes and historical monuments, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass new laws freeing people from consequences when they drive through protests, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

• I wonder how it is that we can so quickly and easily pass legislation banning trans athletes from participating in athletics, but there's nothing we can do about mass murder...

I wonder how, in the land of the free and the home of the brave, there's nothing we can do about mass murder... 

I wonder how, in a world where "All Lives Matter," there's nothing we can do about mass murder. 

I wonder why the very best that the very best of us can do is offer thoughts and prayers.

I wonder why we are so complacent. 

I wonder how we are sleeping at night, knowing that children are not coming home from school, and people are not coming home from the grocery store, not coming home from religious services, not coming home from the movies. People are not coming home. Again.

They. Are. Not. Coming. Home.

What are you wondering about?

Random Thoughts 5/19/22: Dear Gov. DeSantis

My husband, who has never been a Republican, received a letter from the ultimate Florida Man, Gov. Ron DeSantis. The letter was dripping with that special kind of patriotism only Republicans can say with a straight face. I took the liberty of making a couple of edits the Gov's letter, and thought I'd share them with you before I sent this to him.  

Dear Fellow Patriot, 

Liberty. Freedom. Independence. 

Whatever you may choose to call it, the extremist Right-Wing Nut Jobs (RWNJs) want to take it from you.

•  Your right to speak your mind.
•  Your right to practice your faith.
•  Your right to protect and defend your home and family.
•  Your right to own and operate a business.
•  Your right to educate your child.

The extremist RWNJs are currently doing everything they can to take these God-given rights away from you, and it isn’t an accident. 

This is their New America.          

On behalf of Sane Americans everywhere, I’m asking freedom-loving people across our Great Country:

“Are you OK with that?”

I have enclosed a vital NEW AMERICA SURVEY and registered it specifically in your name so the leaders of our Country can hear from you directly, because I believe America is already dangerously on the wrong track, with extremist RWNJs at the helm of the Republican Party.

Your NEW AMERICA SURVEY answers are an essential first step in our effort to slow down the extremist RWNJs and ultimately take back our Country from their freedom-squelching hands in the coming election.

From the moment Donald Trump was elected in 2016, the America-hating, extremist RWNJs adopted the rallying cry “Make America Great Again!” And from that moment forward, they teamed up with Far-Right broadcasters, Proud Boys, Hollywood D-listers, and other despicable individuals to seize power in towns, villages, school boards, statehouses and in Washington, DC.

And now that they are in control, they’re hellbent on radically changing America. As a Sane American, a voter, and a defender of all that’s good in our Country, 

I WON’T ALLOW IT!! 

Not if I can count on you to join with me and other Sane Americans, by speaking out and standing up for our American principles. 

Make your voice heard today by filing out the NEW AMERICA SURVEY I’ve enclosed and specifically registered to you. 

Please tell me and the leaders of America where you stand, right away. We need to build a National Movement of Patriots like you to put our Country back on track.

We need to rally Sane Americans across the country to stand up against the extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs, the angry mob that now dominates the Republican Party and pushes all of us aside for their own autocratic goals. 

So please, tell me, are you on my side?

Are you on the side of sanity, standing with Americans who truly believe that we can be a Great America again?

Or are you on the side of the extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs in the Republican party, who are hell-bent on destroying our freedoms? 

I need to know that you want us to KEEP FIGHTING BACK against the polarizing, poisonous mob that controls - and has destroyed - the Republican Party, and that wants to control every aspect of our lives. So please, take a few moments RIGHT NOW to let me know where you stand. 

It’s important to know where you stand because the biased, outrageous, so-called conservative media, who operate at the beck and call of Donald Trump and the extremist RWNJs, would have you believe that our country is breathtakingly close to becoming a communist stronghold. Sane Americans like you know this is not true, but the battle against the extremist RWNJs is going to be a long one, and we must stand strong in order to regain the America that we love. 

• We have seen their power to censor individuals – and companies – who do not follow their so-called moral agenda. 

• We have seen their power abused to control what books we can read. We have seen their power abused to control women’s bodies, and to cage women within their state borders to prevent them from receiving medical care. 

• We have seen their power abused to control parental rights, preventing children from receiving medical care with the guidance of trusted medical professionals. 

• We have seen them abuse their power to turn Americans against each other - and they have MONETIZED this behavior, with the help of activist judges and justices who are loyal to a small, powerful group of elites.

My fellow Sane American, we have NO IDEA WHERE THIS WILL END! 

No group of individuals, no political party – no one - should have this much power over you and me as citizens of our Great Country. Millions of Sane Americans WILL NOT be silenced by the out-of-control, extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs who are trying to destroy everything our Country stands for. And they will never be able to ban the MILLIONS of us who support our American values and the Golden Rule. 

So, are you willing to join the fight to keep the RWNJs from creating their NEW AMERICA?

Can I count on you to do your part by taking a few moments to fill out your NEW AMERICA SURVEY? 

I would like to ask that, along with completing your survey, you make a special gift of $5,000, $2,900, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50, or even $35 to me, to put me in a financial position to turn this information you provide into concrete action against the dangerous, extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs. 

It is urgent that you get back to me as soon as possible. So please, don’t wait, return your completed NEW AMERICA SURVEY and special gift in the next five days. 

Every day, Sane Americans are facing a near-constant barrage of lies and attacks, However, the FACTS are indisputable. Over the four years Donald Trump was president:

• The scourge of hatred against immigrants, people of faith, women, the poor, and people of color hit record highs.

•  White Supremacists marched, with torches, in our streets. 

• Extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs took over local, state, and national offices, not because of an underlying love for public service, for their communities, or for our country, but in service to Donald Trump, his lies and belligerence and false patriotism. That continues, even today, as primary elections are being held across the country right now, and in the coming months. 

•  Two Supreme Court seat were stolen – one from Americans who had already chosen their President - the sitting President of our Great Country - but were denied his choice months before an election. The second was stolen from the American people, who had already started voting for the next president, with Election Day only weeks away. 

• Thousands of Americans died, unnecessarily, because the Donald Trump and his minions, the extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs, failed to appropriately deal with the COVID pandemic - on purpose. 

• Members of Congress supported insurrectionists trying to stop a legitimate election in which 82 MILLION VOTERS rejected the scourge of Trumpism and MAGATS and chose someone else to lead us back to America. 

And the list goes on, and on. 

They say we were WINNING, but were we? Does America really win when elected officials show loyalty to a MAN, while ignoring their oath to defend our COUNTRY?

Join me in fighting back, by taking these three simple steps.  

• Step One is completing and mailing back your NEW AMERICA SURVEY.  

• Step Two is rushing an urgently special contribution of $5,000, $2,900, $1,000, $500, $250, $100, $50, or even $35 to me. It is going to take millions of dollars to enable to me and other Sane Americans to enhance voter outreach, strengthen our grassroots operations, and better deliver our message to all Americans. We cannot afford any delay in getting started.  

• Step Three is staying committed to the true promise of the American Dream, staying engaged in the fight for it, and never giving up – and NEVER GIVING IN to the extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs who are working tirelessly to steal our freedom and ruin our Great Country.  

This is a pivotal moment in our history. With your help, a wave of sanity is coming in November. And it going to wipe out the extremist Right-wing Nut Jobs and the repressive, repulsive New America they are building right now. But we cannot just wait for that to happen: We must start now – today! - and work for our country, together.  

I’m counting on you! Please send your special gift, and your survey, right away!

Thanks in advance for your support. And remember: all other Sane Americans are counting on YOU!

Sincerely,

Veritable Pastiche

Sunday School 5/1/22

Lots happening in yesterday's classrooms, including multiple appearances by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. I'll address those in your Extra Credit.

For Sunday School, we'll listen in on a Congressman, a Governor, and a Senator, which is where we'll start. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, chatted with What's-His-Name on Meet the Press, who asked if we needed to change our posture if the Russia expands beyond Ukraine into Moldova. Menendez said it wasn't going to "change our calculus" about direct engagement.

We need to keep our eye on the ball. And that is about helping Ukraine and Ukrainians ultimately be able to defeat the butcher of Moscow. And if we do that, the world will be safer... and others who are looking at what is happening in Ukraine will have to think twice. 

And, whether there's "a limit in how much support we're going to give" Ukraine, Menendez thinks we'll do whatever it takes, because it's not just about Ukraine. 

If Ukraine does not win, if Putin can ultimately not only succeed in the Donbass but then be emboldened maybe to go further, if he strikes a country under NATO, under our treaty obligations with NATO, then we would be directly engaged.

Stopping that from happening is critical, Menendez says,

so that we don't have to send our sons and daughters into battle. And I think that ability not to have to send our sons and daughters into battle is priceless.

Moving down the hall to the State of the Union classroom, Dana Bash talked with term-limited Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), who said that the lack of growth in the last quarter, coupled with other issues, could be a sign of a coming recession.

Whenever you have high inflationary pressures, whenever you have interest rates going up to slow the economy down, these are stressors on it. You add that to the supply chain woes that we have, we have got challenges...this administration needs to address those. And they need to do it quickly.

He said that cancelling student debt is a bad idea. Bash asked if doing that wouldn't be helpful to Arkansas families that are hurting now, even though he said his state is generally doing OK. 

Well, sure it'd be helpful to them. It would be helpful to cancel rent for them. It'd be helpful to pay all their utility bills. It'd be helpful to help on mortgage payments. But the question is, what is the right solution?

He said his approach is different. 

... we're looking at not providing more relief, but trying to return more of what we're collecting in terms of taxes back to the taxpayers. That will help them. And it's a more long-term solution as well.

Here are his thoughts on other hot topics. 

• Kevin McCarthy (R-So What if I'm a Liar? I'm YOUR Liar!) will have some work to do if the Rs win and he wants to be Speaker. Hutchinson, a former Congressman, said "it all depends upon who the alternative is" when asked if he would vote for McCarthy if he had the chance.

• He feels the "tone has changed" in the GOP, from where people stood right after the insurrection to where they are now; he believes "that's an error." It won't be helpful for the folks who have "diminished the significance of that event," when we start having public hearings on it this summer.

• He thinks Disney handled the "Don't Say Gay" bill situation "very poorly." And, while he thinks we shouldn't be "teaching sexual orientation" in the lower grades, he doesn't buy into the government being "punitive against private businesses because we disagree with them." It's fine to debate special tax deals, but going after businesses is principled Republican behavior. 

And, the big question, "Are you seriously considering running for president?" He said yes, "that's an option that's on the table."

That's why he went to New Hampshire, and why he plans on being engaged this year in the national conversation, not just on the economy but on border security, going after the cartels, helping the states, and so on. And, what Trump does or doesn't do has no impact on Hutchinson. 

I have made it clear I think we ought to have a different direction in the future. And so, I'm not aligned with him on some of his endorsements, but also the direction he wants to take our country. I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go in a different direction. And so, that's not a factor in my decision-making process.

Finally, a recap of a Face the Nation conversation Margaret Brennan had with Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Stands for REAL Republican) about the January 6th Committee, and more.

• He expects we'll hear new information once the public hearings get under way. He made it clear the DOJ will make decisions on the legality of things; it'll be up to us "to take the work (the Committee has) done and decide what they want to do with it or what they want to believe after that."

• He'd love to talk to everyone they've asked to testify, but didn't offer anything specific on additional subpoenas, calling that "both a strategic, tactical decision and a question of whether or not, you know, we can do that and get the information in time." 

• If some of the, um, interesting candidates Trump has endorsed end up winning, he agrees "it would be a sign" of Trump's continued hold on the party (Brennan used the term "still the leader and kingmaker within the party"). 

• He said his organization, Country1st.com, is focused on "playing in some of those primaries to bring at least reasonable people to the forefront" and encouraging people - particularly if they're in a guaranteed red district -  to vote (and vote against the Trump people, of course).

• He also reminded us of Trump's tactics: "If somebody starts falling behind in the polls, he always finds a reason to un-endorse them, because he doesn't like having a losing track record." That's important to keep an eye on.

• He supports the $33B Ukrainian aid package, and hopes it'll pass. He's introduced an Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) which would give President Biden "congressional leverage or permission to use it if WMDs, nuclear, biological or chemical are used in Ukraine." He said "also, it is a deterrent to Vladimir Putin." 

The all-Mayorkas Extra Credit should be fun - look for that later.

See you around campus.

Wondering on Wednesday 4/20/22

Ready... Set... Wonder!

I wonder about the people who scream about 'cancel culture' and, at the same time, cheer the politicians who are, in some ways, on the verge of 'cancelling' Disney in Florida? 

And I wonder what happens when someone else in the Sunshine State is forced to pick up the costs of providing services to Disney properties, which (as I understand it), the company provides through their Reedy Creek Improvement District? And who, I wonder, will be the lucky people to assume that responsibility?

And I wonder, now that DeSantis has attacked the cruise industry for COVID rules, and the Mouseketeers for supporting LGBTQ folks, who's next on his radar? Will teachers be swept off the beaches? Blacks, maybe? Or librarians who dare to keep bad books on the shelves? 

And I wonder, when did DeSantis first stop liking the 'special districts' created before 1968? He mentioned in a press conference last month that, "a matter of first principle is I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful, and they’ve been able to wield a lot of power."  

Was it just when Disney became 'woke' - 0r has he always thought that? And if he's always thought that, I wonder why he waited until now - during a special session of the legislature, called to cram his personal redistricting maps down everyone's throats - to address the issue? 

And if the 'cancellation' isn't going to take effect until June 2023, I wonder what DeSantis and the rest of them will do to punish the company for the next year? And I wonder, if Disney wanted to reapply for a special district, would DeSantis and the gang even consider it? 

And what about the Imagineers? I wonder if they're going to spend the next few months trying to come up with a theme park ride about a vindictive governor and his minions? Oh wait - can't be minions, maybe they can Imagineer a new name for the Rs in the legislature, and introduce that along with the ride?  

And what about the trailer? Disney always makes a mini-movie when they're ready to roll out a major new 'experience' at their parks, and I wonder, would I have to subscribe to Disney+ to see it, or would ABC carry it on broadcast TV?

And I have to wonder, how many other DeSantis-ish pols in other states will follow his lead and start attacking businesses in their own backyards? And who will be the first?

What are you wondering about tonight?

The Journal of Unpopular Opinions (Chapter 2)

I was reading what I anticipated would be a funny take on 'gender reveal' parties, those often way-over-the-top shindigs with explosions and death and destruction and whatnot. 

The article was moving along, I was chuckling, and then? Then the 'U' word appeared. You know what I'm talking about, right? Here's how it showed up in the article.

 We are fortunate enough to have the resources for almost the ultimate in frivolity: gender reveal parties. Ukraine is the ultimate in seriousness, in a life-and-death battle with all the suffering and horrors of war. Gender reveal parties should be an opportunity for us to be thankful for what we have and to support and fund our fellow humans in Ukraine.

Seriously? Gender reveal parties should be an opportunity for us to send money to Ukraine? As you can tell from the opening of this post, I think gender reveal parties are kind of crazy, but I also think the constant focus on Ukraine, to the exclusion of everything else (other than the price of gas,) is equally crazy.

Like people everywhere, I'm horrified by what I've seen and heard about in Ukraine. I've watched President Zelenskyy's messages to our Congress, to elected officials in other countries, and the UN. I support sanctions on Russia, and I support us giving some military and humanitarian support to Ukraine. 

That said, I think it's ridiculous - and, frankly, grossly unfair - to expect us to turn everything we do, and everything that brings us joy, into an opportunity to help Ukraine. 

Frankly, there are other crises happening in the world, too.? Here are just a handful of them.

• China has committed crimes against humanity by their treatment of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic groups; over a million are dead, hundreds of thousands imprisoned, and others sent into forced labor over the past several years. 
• In South Sudan, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced or killed; nearly 5,000,000 children are not in school, and some 8,00,000 people are facing hunger or famine. This, too, has been going on for years,
• So has the war in Yemen;  4,000,000 people have been displaced, more than 110,000 have been killed, and over 20 million need humanitarian aid.
• And don't forget Somalia, with a million deaths, and more than a million people displaced in that country's ongoing civil war.
• And, have we already forgotten about Afghanistan and the Taliban?

Why do these get less attention? Other than China, we rarely hear about these conflicts, and when we do, it's well after the Ukrainian news of the day. And would we have heard much about China, absent the Olympics? 

Why is that? Is it because these aren't social-media-savvy countries? Is it because civil wars don't matter? Is it because these people don't look like us? It's hard to ignore that last question.

And, in case you're thinking everything's hunky-dory here at home, think again.

• Politicians from both parties continue to choose their voters, instead of the voters choosing their politicians; it's been going on for decades, and is getting worse instead of better as gerrymandering flourishes.
• Politicians are doing their best to make voting more complicated instead of easier, and while they say they are making voting more secure, we know that what many of them are trying to do is make it easier for them to erase the vote of the people.
• We are pulling books from schools and libraries, because people who have never read them have been told by their churches or their politicians that this is the right thing to do.
• We are (knowingly) underfunding public education (here in New York, for example) and allowing individuals to take taxpayer money out of public schools and give it to private schools - including corporate, profit-driven entities - and religious schools.
• States are codifying vigilante justice to avoid having laws struck down by the courts. So far -- so far -- it's just laws against abortion; who knows where they'll go next with this plan of attack. Texas started this; others are following.
• States are trying to pass laws to prevent citizens from seeking medical are in other states (Missouri and Oklahoma for starters), or threatening to jail parents - potentially with life sentences - for seeking medical treatment for their children (Idaho), and charge providers with felonies for providing treatment (Oklahoma, again).
• And let's not forget the "Don't Say Gay" bills - yes, that's plural now, with Alabama following Florida's lead.
• States are attacking marriage equality, proposing marriage contracts that would only be allowed for opposite-sex couples (Tennessee).
• States have passed laws allowing doctors to pick their patients, instead of having to treat everyone - even people they don't like (Ohio, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas...).

In America, folks - this is all happening, right here in America, to Americans.

Should we care about Ukraine? Of course. Should we care only about Ukraine? Of course not. 

We should learn (or remember) how to walk and chew gum at the same time; we can hear about, and care about, more than one thing at a time. Even if the people don't look like us, or don't have great social media skills.  

We should never let our guard down here at home, no matter how compelling the news from elsewhere in the world might be.

And we should allow ourselves a little joy, without feeling guilty and without feeling obligated to anyone else. 

TGIF 3/11/22

The TGIF post has always been used to identify individuals or groups of people who've had a pretty good week, or a particularly bad week. 

This week however, I'm highlighting a state that, in my opinion, has had a particularly bad week. Which state gets this singular honor? Texas. 

Now, I've written about Texas several times over the years - after all, they've got Ted Cruz. Here's a sampling: 

• the state's efforts at making sure people don't have to worry about letting their deeply held beliefs get in the way of doing their jobs; 
• Gov. Greg Abbott saying he'll eliminate rape in Texas; and
• the state interjecting itself into medical decisions that should be made by a patient's family, not the government.

So, what's been going on recently that earned them this dubious feature tonight? Plenty.

Last month, Abbott directed the state to investigate parents for child abuse if they allowed their transgender children to receive certain types of medical care. The policy was put on hold; the court ruled it "had been improperly adopted and violated the Texas constitution." The state, of course, appealed. 

Testimony in the hearing brought some ugly details to light, including that  

abuse investigators had been told to prioritize cases involving the parents of transgender children and to investigate them without exception, after the state’s governor’s order. 

Department of Family and Protective (DFPS) staff were told not to put anything about these cases in texts or emails, something they've never been advised about any other investigations. And, it's important to note that the DFPS 

has been the subject of a decade-old federal lawsuit over its foster care system, in which children faced abuse as well as long waits to be adopted or placed in safer homes. Federal monitors have been overseeing the process of carrying out judicial orders since 2019, among them a directive to improve the handling and investigation of reported child abuse.

So yes, by all means, let's focus on trans kids and their loving parents, and not actual cases of child abuse. Makes perfect sense to me (yes, that's sarcasm). As does the state's Department of Health removing LGBTQ suicide prevention resources from its website. 

Instead of listing the phone number, website, and text line for the Trevor Project, as it did at the beginning of February, the website no longer includes any links for LGBTQ youth. Instead, information on the Trevor Project can only be found in a PDF for “Parent and Youth Suicide Prevention” but does not include information about the Trevor Project in the least bit. 

What else? 

We're all familiar with the Texas abortion law, which encourages Texans to turn on each other for bounties if they think a woman has gotten an abortion in violation of the law. Now that I think about it, why didn't they include that part on the trans child abuse directive? 

Anyway, the US Supreme Court (twice) refused to pause the law while the case moved through the Texas courts; the review's finished. 

The decision by the Texas Supreme Court turned on whether medical licensing officials had an enforcement role under the law... writing for the court, Justice Jeffrey Boyd said those state officials have no enforcement authority, “either directly or indirectly.”

So, states now have a free pass on legal responsibility for laws they enact no matter how irresponsible they might be. 

I don't want you to think that Texas only discriminates against women and LGBTQ kids they're equal opportunity discriminators.

A Texas agency discriminated against communities of color when it denied more than $1 billion in federal relief funds sought by Houston and Harris County to help hard-hit areas recover from Hurricane Harvey, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found.

Remarkably, Houston and Harris County didn't receive any money when the state initially handed out funds, even though the whole country saw the photos of the storm damage. You can see them here, if you're interested.

HUD officials said the state agency’s method of doling out the funds “discriminated on the basis of race and national origin” and “substantially and predictably disadvantaged minority residents, with particularly disparate outcomes for Black residents,” according to a Friday letter detailing the result of a HUD probe. The land office is in violation of the Civil Rights Act as well as federal housing law, federal housing officials said.

I have a hard time reconciling these headlines with this cheerful statement on the state's website:

There's something for everyone in Texas!

And I can't imagine any state having a worse week than the one that Texas just had - not even Florida.

TGIF, everyone.