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Good News Roundup for Friday, January 20, 2023: A Matter of Principles [1]
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Date: 2023-01-20
Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News!
It turns out that principles matter. Principles sometimes may make it harder to get into power, but it sure makes governing easier. When you have none — at least none besides “mine! mine! mine!” — getting anything done (besides making smoking legal in the Capitol again, which makes me wonder why the Rs want to kill off their supporters) you get crimes and chaos.
Republicans are not good at sharing. Not with the rest of the world, with people who don’t look like them, and it turns out, not even with each other.
Contrast this with the great things done in the last two years!
Come in, my friends, and see what the good guys are doing.
Regular Scheduled Programming
No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know. Remember:
💙 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED!
💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
🗽 Biden as President ! 🗽
Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room.
👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍
Ds refuse to negotiate with GOP terrorists on the debt ceiling John Light,Talking Points Memo
Republicans have made their intentions clear since at least October: Take the debt limit hostage as a bargaining chip, demanding cuts to programs the party has long sought to slash, such as Medicare and Social Security. The White House has repeatedly said it won’t play ball, and did so again after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the U.S. would hit the debt limit Thursday, and that her department would begin “extraordinary measures” to continue to fulfill the U.S.’s obligations. “There is going to be no negotiation over it,” White House Press Secretary Karinne Jean-Pierre said. “This is something that must get done.” Yet Republicans, having captured their hostage, were not keen to take no for an answer. “When President Biden says he’s just going to refuse to negotiate with Republicans on any concessions, I don’t think that’s right either,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) in an interview with ABC This Week on Sunday. “I want our side to negotiate with the Democrats in good faith,” he said later in the interview. “But President Biden has to also negotiate. He can’t say he refuses to negotiate.”
Note I don’t have a link for this, but I heard this on Chris Hayes’s “All In” from Thursday night. Although the McCarthy appointments to various committees are absolutely disgusting, some of the Biden staffers are reacting with “glee” because they expect they will be able to use this to expose the Rs for who they are.
💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣
When you have no principles, and your party gets a little power, you start fighting with each other.
This doesn’t appear to be physical, but it looks as if McCarthy has annoyed some of his people. Evan Hurst, Wonkette
This time, the combatants are Kevin McCarthy (again) and Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan. The reason for the fight is, we regret to inform you, not particularly sexy, which is to be expected, because a story about a man named "Vern" has never been particularly sexy. Have you ever heard anybody say, "And now for the sex, it's VERN"? You haven't. Vern has been wanting to be chair of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. If you read our story about how many of the new Republican committee chairs are rank seditionists, you might have noticed that list was distinctly Vern-free, as that gavel went to Jason Smith of Missouri. Vern has been calling reports that he might resign from Congress if he didn't get that chairmanship total hogwash, but he doesn't sound happy, just the same. Just how angry was he? Well, a source on the House floor during the vote told me that while McCarthy was gaveling down the votes, Buchanan walked up to McCarthy and said, “You fucked me, I know it was you, you whipped against me.” He then proceeded to chew out McCarthy’s deputy chief of staff for floor operations, John Leganski. It was shocking to see such fury from Buchanan, who’s known for being mild mannered. Indeed, I heard that the tirade was so heated that the Speaker’s security detail stepped in with a light touch. (McCarthy’s spokesperson Matt Sparks disputed this detail saying, “at no point did anyone have to step in.” A spokesperson for Buchanan declined to comment.) Florida Politics confirms that "words were shared between the two men."
Many of you have heard about the problems between Boebert and Greene, including a near screaming match in the ladies’ room Ursula Petrano, Zachary Petrizzo The Daily Beast
The speaker vote was a lucid manifestation of that different path, but the divide has been playing out behind closed doors for months. And while the whole world could see the literal space between them during the speaker vote on Jan. 7, it was allegedly in the privacy of the ladies room, four days earlier, where the two really had it out. On the first day of Congress this year, Jan. 3, the mounting tension between Greene and Boebert reached its boiling point. According to multiple sources, the two women were nearly in a screaming match in the Speaker’s lobby ladies room just off the House floor. ✂️ According to another source familiar, while in the bathroom, Greene asked Boebert, “You were OK taking millions of dollars from McCarthy but you refuse to vote for him for Speaker, Lauren?”
Then there is this moment:
x Wild scene as Rep. Mike Rogers has to be physically restrained by another member while going after Gaetz as McCarthy tries to secure final votes pic.twitter.com/c0u2lZxgYr — Cabot Phillips (@cabot_phillips) January 7, 2023
And that’s the stuff we know about!
And it’s not just in the House! This — not physical — happened in Texas: Dillon Collier, KSAT Investigates
BANDERA COUNTY, Texas – Two top officials with the Republican Party of Bandera County were arrested Friday, days after the pair was indicted in connection with a fraudulent document scheme. Conrad Striegl, 73 and Cari Rene Leith, 62, were each charged with fraudulent securing of document execution between $2,500 and $30K, 198th Judicial District Court records obtained by KSAT show. The pair, which is accused of presenting a forged document to cut off the bank access of another GOP official, was booked into the Bandera County Jail Friday on the state jail felony charge.
This is so low:
x BREAKING: In 2016, George Santos set up a GoFundMe for a veteran's dog who needed lifesaving cancer surgery to remove a tumor; Santos took the $3,000 and ghosted, and the dog died, according to the veteran.
The more we learn about Santos, the worse he gets. — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) January 18, 2023
Or maybe Anthony Devolder?
x 1) THREAD: PAY ATTENTION to this George Santos MAGA Moment. A video surfaced this week of Santos introducing himself as Anthony Devolder. He said he organized a group United For Trump at a rally on 3/23/19 with charged insurrectionist, Brandan Straka of Walk Away. pic.twitter.com/FTWTKRRfFj — Sandi Bachom (@sandibachom) January 17, 2023
This is, alas, dangerous, but at least this guy was arrested. More arrests, please!
x Solomon Peña, a former Republican candidate for the New Mexico House of Representatives, is arrested for allegedly paying four other men to shoot at the homes of local Democratic officials. pic.twitter.com/LgG8qTA0ud — Mike Sington (@MikeSington) January 17, 2023
Maybe this will help us in the future?
x With the rose-colored glasses on, it feels like the GOPs abandonment of truth is leading them to a place where their candidates are such massive stupid fraudulent grifting liars that even run-of-the mill R voters won't support them. — Dirk Schwenk (Esq) 🎵 (@DirkSchwenk) January 17, 2023
I mean, who defends smoking? Oh, the GOP
x One of the best decisions I ever made for my own health was to quit smoking 17 months ago today.
One of the worst decisions the House GOP has already made, aside from electing McCarthy, was allowing cigarette smoke in the House again.#GOPupInSmokepic.twitter.com/9rbLNq9xUM — BrooklynDad_Defiant!☮️ (@mmpadellan) January 17, 2023
Here’s one of the R proposals, which Forbes calls a gigantic present to Democrats Steve Forbes, Forbes
New Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy has proposed a vote on a proposal called the Fair Tax, which would abolish the current federal income tax and replace it with a 30% national sales tax. Payroll taxes, which finance Social Security and Medicare, would also get axed.The IRS would go. States would collect the sales levy and remit proceeds to Washington. Unfortunately, as this segment of What’s Ahead discusses, the Fair Tax has serious problems. Right out of the gate, the big one is political. How, particularly in these inflationary times, are voters going to react to paying a 30% sales tax on what they buy? A typical new house would cost an additional $125,000, not to mention the thousands of extra dollars people would pay for food, fuel, electricity and countless other items.
To sum up succinctly:
x What kinda dumbfucks spend decades saying Democrats want to raise your taxes then propose a 30% sales tax?
Republican dumbfucks. — I Smoked George Kitara Ravache Dolezal Santos (@BlackKnight10k) January 20, 2023
🚚 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 🚚
Small business applications way up under President Biden White House Briefing Room
Small businesses are the engines of our economy and the hearts of our communities. We learned today that my first two years in office have been the two greatest years for new small business applications on record, with more than 10 million total new businesses created. It’s the latest confirmation that my economic plan is working to build our economy from the bottom up and middle out. With unemployment at a record low and the two strongest years of job creation in our history, there are reasons for economic optimism all across our country. Rebuilding our infrastructure and supply chains here at home will help our small businesses strive for decades ahead. My law to help crack down on big corporations who are cheating on their taxes will also help level the playing field for our small businesses, which is part of why it has been so disappointing to see House Republicans make protecting wealthy tax cheats their top legislative priority. I will continue to work with anybody from either party, in Congress or in the states, to implement my economic agenda and build our economy from the bottom up and middle out. And I am convinced America’s best days are ahead.
I was going to put the above in the Unity section, but then I noticed — and bolded — the stuff about House Rs protecting wealthy tax cheats, so this really belongs with the Ds. Way to go, President Biden, for reminding everyone what the Rs are doing!
Inflation for producers (producer price index) is down:
Today, we received more evidence that we are making real progress tackling inflation and lowering costs, successfully transitioning from a historic recovery to steady and stable growth. The inflation rate for producers fell further, and is now at its lowest level since March 2021. This decrease reflected a decline in food and energy prices, bringing real breathing room to working families. And, price increases outside of food, energy, and trade services slowed and are at their lowest level since March 2021.
💜 Unity? 💜
Choosing community over chaos Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post. Almost put this in the Democrats Deliver section, but it shows how Biden is president for the entire country
The president, speaking from the pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, offered a moving tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. that demonstrated the power of going high when your opponents go low. “We have to choose a community over chaos,” Biden exhorted the congregation. “Are we the people who are going to choose love over hate?” He then explored what he means by redeeming the soul of the country: What is the soul of America? Easy to say, but what is the soul of America? Well, the soul is the breath, the life, the essence of who we are. The soul makes us “us.” The soul of America is embodied in the sacred proposition that we’re all created equal in the image of God. That was the sacred proposition for which — for which Dr. King gave his life. It was a sacred proposition rooted in Scripture and enshrined in the Declaration of Independence. ... And the battle for the soul of this nation is perennial. It’s a constant struggle. It’s a constant struggle between hope and fear, kindness and cruelty, justice and injustice against those who traffic in racism, extremism, and insurrection; a battle fought on battlefields and bridges, from courthouses and ballot boxes, to pulpits and protests.
📥 Actions You Can Take 📤
Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying?
Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations:
ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union
Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election.
Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams
🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy.
🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection.
👎 Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others.
🐍 Schadenfreude 😈
Not good that these people exist, but good to see the feds are working:
x NEW: Feds just unsealed documents that show they arrested 3 active duty Marines on Jan 6. charges.
Aside from currently serving, these 3 also had intel jobs, awards, clearances...the lot. One was even working at Ft. Meade.
Now they face 4 charges each.
https://t.co/RiI3RZqaql — Konstantin Toropin (@KToropin) January 19, 2023
Do Congresscritters next, please
tRump’s lawyers sanctioned
x JUST IN: A federal judge in Florida has sanctioned Donald Trump's attorneys *$938,000* for what he says is a pattern of abusing the court system for political purposes
It's Judge MIddlebrooks' second blistering sanctions order against Habba et al
https://t.co/P8un0eU5Kj pic.twitter.com/CQ1RF1uSwL — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) January 20, 2023
Freedom phone backers (conservatives) turn on each other Will Sommer, The Daily Beast
In the summer of 2021, conservatives aggrieved over Big Tech censorship saw a new smartphone as their savior. Dubbed the “Freedom Phone,” the $500 device was the creation of Bitcoin mogul Erik Finman, who promised customers a phone loaded with conservative apps and free from liberal Silicon Valley influence. Conservative influencers encouraged their fans to buy the phone, receiving a sizable cut of each sale for themselves. Even after The Daily Beast and other media outlets revealed that the Freedom Phone was just a cheap Chinese-made phone sold at a hefty markup, it was a hit, quickly selling roughly $4 million worth, according to court records. ✂️ Two years later, though, Freedom Phone’s business is falling apart amid customer complaints. In a bitter, previously unreported legal battle that began in April 2022, the men behind Freedom Phone’s backers have accused one another of blowing their windfall profits—in one case, in a $10,000 shopping spree for video games. Finman has even sued to keep his face and name from ever being associated with Freedom Phone in the future. ✂️ “Ultimately, as we helped him, he ran off with the money,” Proper said in his August 2022 testimony, wondering aloud why Finman wasn’t facing criminal charges.
Navarro’s motion with the Court did not go well (long thread, not repeating everything here):
x My favorite line from the ruling: "Defendant apparently believes the law applies differently to him.” Here's a link to the entire ruling. Thanks for reading! END/
https://t.co/fHnx0GJvSW — Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) January 19, 2023
tRump having trouble with evangelicals Philip Bump, Washington Post
“Some of these prominent evangelical leaders who backed you last time, they’re not yet willing to commit,” David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network told Trump in an interview for Real America’s Voice on Monday. “It seems like many of them are waiting to see how the field takes shape before backing anyone. What is your message to them?” “Well, I don’t really care,” Trump replied — then quickly undercut that insouciance. “That’s a sign of disloyalty. There’s great disloyalty in the world of politics.” The “disloyalty” here, in Trump’s telling, was that “nobody has ever done more for right-to-life than Donald Trump.” He pointed to his successful nominations of three Supreme Court justices, all of whom voted to throw out Roe v. Wade last year. He also tried (as he has in the past) to blame low enthusiasm among Republican abortion opponents for the party’s poor performance in 2022. But his point was simple: They owed him. This is an ironic charge, of course. Over the course of his career (both in business and in politics), Trump has demonstrated that his concept of loyalty is often a one-way street: Allies should be loyal to him and he might return the favor, if useful. In this scenario, the roles are reversed. Prominent leaders of White evangelical Protestant churches were somewhat slow to align with Trump but eventually did so — in part because they read the room. And now they’re reading the room again.
Of course, this is no sign of any principles on the part of the evangelicals, except for the principle of “don’t like losing.”
Turns out, some people don’t think Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero:
x Major Las Vegas hotel cancels meet & greet event with Kyle Rittenhouse: ‘The event did not align with our guidelines’
https://t.co/UaebDbAFBY — #TuckFrump (@realTuckFrumper) January 18, 2023
📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️
This week I want to honor Martin Luther King, whose life was taken from him after speaking truths. Here are a few tweets:
x Celebrating MLK Day with a flashback photo in history. I was only 17 years old when this picture was taken. I was at a press conference where Dr. King was speaking. This photo represents inspiration to me to begin my writing career. pic.twitter.com/r8jDD9BwK8 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (@kaj33) January 16, 2023
But speaking truth is not always popular:
x Even though he is revered today, MLK was hated when he was murdered. 75% of Americans disapproved of him, as he spoke out in support of economic equity. Arguably, the reason he was killed.
That's the #MLK I celebrate. pic.twitter.com/dDHuEFFfUd — Glenn E. Martin 🐐 (@glennEmartin) January 16, 2023
🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️
This is super:
x This company prints 3D prosthetics for disabled pets, giving them a second chance at life.
Not all heroes wear capes ♥️
(🎥 3DPets) pic.twitter.com/ideywoVzuI — Goodable (@Goodable) January 17, 2023
This is just nice:
x When Immanuel Patton was 5, he told his mother that one day, they would graduate from university together.
His mom, Carolyn, was a single mother working full-time with two kids and didn't think it would ever be possible.
They just graduated together.
👩🏿🎓👨🏽🎓 pic.twitter.com/nJEip3iUqd — Goodable (@Goodable) January 17, 2023
📎 Odds & Ends 📎
'Extreme' drought completely eliminated in California; Colorado River Basin lags behind, ABC News (audio)
"Extreme" drought has been completely eliminated in California for the first time in nearly three years, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. While the drastic change for California has happened over the last few weeks, the most recent batch of rain has completely eliminated the "extreme" drought category. However, while smaller reservoirs have returned to averages, many larger ones still remain low, according to experts. And it's still "too early to tell if the wet weather is enough to end the drought." This is the first time since April 2020 that there has been no "extreme" drought in California.
A use for all that plastic!
x Good Climate Alert:
California, Hawaii, and other states are introducing pilot programs to repave roads with asphalt that contains recycled plastic.
Early testing shows there is no microplastic run-off, and researchers believe the new roads will last significantly longer. pic.twitter.com/qgneXMQklv — Goodable (@Goodable) January 18, 2023
China broke records both good and bad last year Olivia Rosane, EcoWatch
China broke records for coal output in 2022, but there’s other energy news from the world’s No. 1 emitting nation that’s a little brighter from a climate perspective. It also broke records for new solar capacity added last year, according to figures from the National Energy Administration (NEA) published on Wednesday, installing a total of 87.41 gigawatts (GW). And it’s possible another record will be broken this year. “China’s solar installations could ‘effortlessly’ reach 100GW this year, given sharp falls in solar panel and material prices in recent weeks that will encourage developers to kickstart large-scale projects soon,” Asia Europe Clean Energy (Solar) Advisory founder Frank Haugwitz said, according to a summary of his remarks from the South China Morning Post.
Good news for the 🌵 state!
x NEW: Arizona Court of Appeals dismisses the Arizona Republican Party's lawsuit seeking to overturn the state's 1991 no-excuse mail-in voting law. This is a victory for Arizonans — most of whom vote by mail — who will continue to benefit from this system.
https://t.co/KCSvqaBTKc — Democracy Docket (@DemocracyDocket) January 17, 2023
In case you want to know more about the discussion about regulating gas stoves Jonathan Levy, The Conversation via EcoWatch
🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages.
💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time.
Current projects:
Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters
And some other ideas:
You can relax and recharge.
You can join protests and freeway blog.
You can help register new voters.
You can smile.
You can get out the vote for special elections.
You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back.
You can share your ideas below.
🌻
💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙
President Joseph R. Biden
🌹 🌹 🌹
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