DL Open Thread: Friday, Jan. 14, 2022
How The Big Quit Happened. An absolute must-read from Mother Jones:
Quits are a Janus-faced piece of economic data—a sign of how bad our work politics have gotten, and also of hope that they could be better. It signals that people are fed up but also confident they can find new jobs, often better-paying ones. It can feel radical after living under the austerity provisions that have been a hallmark of neoliberal governments since the 1970s—which, as Amelia Horgan noted in Lost in Work: Escaping Capitalism, meant that “we, almost always, need a job more than a job needs us.”
For the past 40 years, MIT economist David Autor wrote in the New York Times, the United States has “generated vast numbers of low-paid, economically insecure jobs.” And given that we haven’t invested much in social infrastructure, some people are dropping out of the workforce because they are falling through the holes in our social safety net. Recent reporting shows workers are pissed off and burned out. This year has seen more vigorous organizing; there have been strikes and other actions by entertainment workers, John Deere employees, and Kaiser Permanente nurses. But it’s spread beyond the organized: From the white-collar workers reconsidering their life priorities, to the service industry staff tired of dealing with terrible customers, to low-wage laborers finding solidarity against the shit conditions laid bare by the pandemic, people are broadly opting out.
Dems DESERVE To Lose The Senate. And, yes, Biden’s a big part of the problem. Nobody fears him. He’s out there begging. BEGGING.
A Couple Of Brief Rays Of Sunshine Amidst The Gloom. $27 billion for aging bridges. Clean Energy Corps to hire 1000 to address environmental issues. The irony being, of course, that there’s a lot of good stuff happening, but the circular firing squad among the Senate D’s drown it all out.
Did Mike Pence Kill The Coup Via Parliamentary Procedures? Signs point to yes:
So Pence avoided a coup by noting that the Parliamentarians had validated (by checking with each state’s Sec of State) which slate of electors were real and which were fraudulent? Well done, sir.
Hope he still has Secret Service protection.
Reno Developers Demolished Low-Income Housing For Casino Project, Promised To Build New Low-Income Housing. Didn’t Do It. Stories like this make me want to join Jason’s self-imposed news blackout. Corruption everywhere. Which reminds me: In looking over the Delaware campaign finance reports, the Schell family is sure tossing a lot of cash around to legislators who don’t live in Sussex County. Just thought you’d like to know. Sussex Spies: What are they up to? I mean, besides no-good.
Racist White Cop No Longer On Wilmington Police Force. No official will say why. But he’s been fired, no doubt about it. What will be done to make sure he doesn’t reemerge with another police agency? BTW, are cop buzz-cuts mandatory, or do they all want to be just like Marines?
What do you want to talk about?
I really am bracing myself for a tidal wave of heart-rending fundraising appeals like this one from the scoundrels at the DSCC:
OH DEAR! How terrible… we might lose the SENATE!!!
I’m getting a shitload of messages from ‘Democratic Congress’. I’m not leaving it to a bunch of so-called ‘centrists’ to decide where my limited funds will go.
As some of you know, I am a fan of the ‘game of human chess’ known as pro rasslin’. I subscribe to the Wrestling Observer. Dave Meltzer of the Observer has been a relentless critic of the WWE doing extremely lucrative shows in Saudi Arabia. Blood money. From this week’s newsletter:
“There is only one PPV between Rumble and Mania, which is 2/19 in Saudi Arabia, built around Elimination Chamber matches where the winners would also be WrestleMania title match possibilities or they could have both titles at stake in those matches. I guess they decided to book the Chamber in Saudi Arabia because Auschwitz has COVID restrictions this month.”
Gee, if I didn’t know better I’d say Biden is Delaware Standard Issue, a politician that never gets mean or mad and tends to go with the flow. Pray tell, what did you expect? We all knew he was not a fighter and not a strong figure at all going in. We also failed to promote someone better, and better suited to the task at hand. And does anyone really think LBR will be anything other more of the same? When the big money boys control the candidates this is what you get.
Young cops get their buzz cuts at the academy, which are conducted just like a military boot camp, and where they are trained in “us vs. them” — that suspects are their mortal enemies.
Jon Moseley is baaaack……
https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2022/01/14/oath-keepers-stewart-rhodes-lawyer-defends-texts-newday-keilar-vpx.cnn
Brianna Keilar interviews Jon Moseley, attorney for Oath Keeper leader Stewart Rhodes
Wild clip. “Because they were talking abut starting a bloody revolution doesn’t mean that they wanted to start a bloody revolution. Everybody was talking about it.”
You may remember Jon Moseley from Christine O’Donnell’s campaign.