Fresh Week! [DOT 27/3/23]

27/3/23 MegMegMcGee 29

Hi gang, happy Monday!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend. Saturday it was cold and rainy, but yesterday was glorious. First real warm, sunny, weekend day. I cleaned my patio off, which is slightly more work than it sounds like.

Hope you had a great weekend…

Blah blah blah
Trump says he’s not upset over possible indictment while attacking ‘fake’ case
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/26/trump-possible-indictment-stormy-daniels-case

Mississippi updates:

‘Everything is gone’: Loss and destruction in a small Mississippi town
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2023/03/26/rolling-fork-mississippi-tornado-damage/

Spoiler alert, she cannot. 🙁
She lost her trans son to suicide. Can a Kentucky lawmaker make her colleagues care?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/03/25/transgender-suicide-karen-berg-henry-brousseau-kentucky/

Stonks!

Deposit drain from smaller banks into financial giants like JPMorgan Chase has slowed, sources say
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/25/banking-crisis-deposit-drain-from-small-banks-into-jpm-wfc-c-slowed.html

Sprots!

Men’s NCAA tournament Final Four field is set after San Diego, Miami victories
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/26/sport/ncaa-tournament-final-four-san-diego-miami/index.html

The way I cackled

Have a great day!

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29 Comments

  1. The story of the legislator shows how much terms like civility and listening have been weaponized. Instead of true give and take, it’s purely “you give, we take.”

    But stories like this never become a part of the “growing divide” narrative because the weaponizers would have to admit it’s not both sides. The assumption is that only the right has unheard concerns and the left doesn’t try.

    • It’s why I’ve enjoyed Megan Hunt in Nebraska, who is currently running a filibuster in the statehouse opposing anti-trans bills and blocking everything, who said outright she doesn’t want to pretend to be nice to those who oppose her. And she’s absolutely right!

      https://www.salon.com/2023/03/24/nebraska-dem-with-trans-son-vows-to-block-all-bills-no-one-in-the-world-holds-a-grudge-like-me/

      Other than the obvious — lots of them don’t actually want too much change — I’ve never understood the liberal devotion to “Well if we just talk it out, things will change” because it has never worked. Not once!

      • It’s worthwhile to make good faith arguments, but not be under any illusion that they will be heard. It’s important to go beyond just the basic marshalling of evidence and logic, and attack the bad faith on the other side and talk about their methods and lies.

        What hurts is the degree to which centrist institutions, including the political press, buy into the nonsense and try to kneecap any adoption of the framework that the right operates in complete bad faith.

        • I agree in the sense that the left has nothing like the giant media megaphone that the right has in making it seem like there’s a lot of buzz around whatever stupid right-wing idea is on everyone’s feed this week. It would be nice to have another side there! But absent that, making a good-faith case is at best going to make people on your side nod and people not on your side shrug. It’s probably not enough in a neutral media environment; it’s almost worthless in a slanted environment. Nobody really gives a shit about hypocrisy, ultimately.

          But in terms of trying to argue to the media that the GOP is bad, actually … it doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked. It’s not going to work. We can argue until the cows come home about why that is. But at some point, we need to admit defeat and to figure out something else. It’s safe to say that it doesn’t really matter how often Mango Unchained says one thing and then does the opposite because it’s his entire life and the NYT is still gonna pretend otherwise. You mentioned Bibi below, and how badly CNN has done describing it … well geesh, man, we already have that here via the Supreme Court, and nobody calls that “radical.” But if Biden were to say sure, let’s add 3 more justices to counteract a multi-decade plan to render elections meaningless, you can bet it would be Crazy Socialist Brandon!!!!!1!!!!! time everywhere.

          • I have limited belief in the persuasive value of good faith arguments, but I still think they have some value, in part because I think keeping yourself honest benefits the good guys in the long run. Bad policies lead to unforced errors down the line.

            I think it’s critical to do more than point out the evil of the right to the press,too. I think it’s important to start challenging the press’s complicity too.

            The right games the refs endlessly, and they do it by more than complaining — they long ago made a study of learning the specific buttons to push, how to embarrass and woo reporters and more importantly, editors and producers.

            There are entire networks of right wing  consultants, PR agents, and off the record sources who need to be rooted out and made toxic.

            Basically, there’s a lot of trench warfare that needs to happen. It’s how the right has made a ton of liberals out of bounds for the press, and the left needs to work a lot harder to shift the balance.

  2. CNN describes what’s going on Israel as being about Netanyahu’s “plans to weaken the judiciary” which is an exceedingly bloodless way to describe what Netanyahu is trying to do, and why so many Israelis are shutting the country down in response.

    News outlets would be better off admitting they’re not capable of covering the issue than to describe it this way.

  4. Oh, good. I was so worried that the seditious assholes from Jan. 6 weren’t getting any visitors. Luckily “legislators” that are in favor of fascism rushed into the breach.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/27/marjorie-taylor-greene-led-delegation-to-visit-capitol-attack-defendants-in-jail

    You have to wonder if these people’s attorneys explain to them that there’s no way that a handful of fuckwits in a Congress they don’t control can do anything to affect their sentences. “Sure, you can talk to them and provide them with a publicity op, but make sure you get your ass back to your cell when you’re done. You’re not going anywhere, and they don’t actually give a fuck what happens to you. Just like your boy Trump.”

    • I would go on an extended diatribe about fundamentalism, Southern Baptists, sexual abuse, and massive coverups, but I’ve said it all here before. So I’ll sum up:

      Do not trust any member of any fundamentalist religion ever. Some are nice people. You can’t know which is which until you or a family member has lost money or you or a family member has been assaulted or abused. To invoke a religious story, you’re basically jumping into Daniel’s lion’s den and hoping that somebody fed the kitties. You won’t know how that works out until one is snacking on your leg.

      • At work I got lectured about the evils of greed from the only guy (hindu fundie) at work who got suspended twice for exceeding the max overtime allowed per week and caught lying about it.

        I just rolled my eyes.

        • As they get more overt and pushy with religion, they are invariably more despicable human beings.

          I have never, ever had this maxim fail me, and I’ve been dealing with this type of person for decades. Fundamentalism is all about forcing your will onto other people. That’s its entire core belief system: You do what I say. Or stated less accurately, you do what I say that God wants you to do.

          • I have the same maxim about all religionists.  If I hear “he/she’s a good name-that-sect” I automatically classify that person as a shithead. Haven’t been wrong, so far.

            Another Hindu nationalist at work tried to get a bunch of his fellow Hindus at work to join in on a ponzi scheme/scam that promised a return of 30% per year over 7 years.

            I laughed when I saw the English text. Madoff didn’t promise that much.

            Fortunately, I did not hear anyone did.

             

    • The cruelty really is the entire point, and they don’t CARE who’s hurt, until members of their own family are the ones being hurt…

      And even then, the narrative will *either* be “Oh, the injustice of these terrible laws you let happen!” Orrrr that somehow that relative deserves it, because “they’ve always been that way!”

      It’s ALL about inflicting the maximum pain possible, on *others.*

      ☹

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