DL Open Thread Tuesday August 24th 2021

I was in a store yesterday and some asshole was yammering on about the "Nuremberg Code"  and how it meant that he didn't  need to get vaccinated because the vaccine is experimental.  The Nuremberg Code seems to be everywhere these days as MAGA shitheads have embraced it as the ultimate legal defense for their assholery. Like this guy, for example:   
An Alabama man who called himself the 'vaccine police' told pharmacists at a Missouri Walmart that they will be 'executed' if they continued giving COVID-19 shots...

DL Open Thread Monday August 23, 2021

I'm still not watching any opinion/talking head panel "news" but I have pieced together the fact that according to Politico, Fox News, CNN and the New York Times, Joe Biden is the worst Hitler since the original Hitler. You know the depth of the media's malefaction if you've read this: 'The American Media (Hearts) Forever War' Alby posted it yesterday.  
Could Covid gets any better at killing  wingnut radio personalities, homophobic preachers, and Red State screwball legislators? One can hope.
Calling the GOP a "Death Cult" would be accurate but impolite  - So the Media Doesn't Do it.
Probably the most important rule of conventional media discourse in this country is that an accurate description of the contemporary GOP is not possible, because such a description would be so extreme that it would basically blow the standard structure of that discourse to smithereens. For example, when front pagers and commentators here at LGM refer to the Republican party as a death cult, this must be interpreted by Very Serious People in the legacy media to be some sort of partisan hyperbole. In fact it’s about as hyperbolic as pointing out that the Pacific Ocean has a lot of water in it. In other words, it’s a very simple and straightforward description of an undeniable state of affairs:
 
If you want to take concrete action to oppose the Republicans trying to infect this country with disease and idiocy you can do these things today: 1) Research who your elected officials are from US Senator down to County Council and how they vote. 2) If they are Democrats, urge them to be more confrontational - or plan to primary them. 3) If they are republicans run against them - or support a candidate who will fight. 4) Read 'Beyond the Super Voter' at the Delaware Call

DL Open Thread Wednesday August 18th 2021

The Delaware Call's  knows his shit.  He won in the suburbs when conventional wisdom held that the suburbs are a bastion of timid Democratic Party moderation.  But Stomberg can't be everywhere.  Knowing that, can (even more) progressives win in the suburbs?  Read the Delaware Call and find out. -

Building a Progressive Base in the Suburbs

Also: -The inside the bubble DC Press corps REALLY wants Biden to come apart over the fall of Kabul. But does America hate Biden? Not so much. - While talking about Americans remaining in Kabul, Sean Hannity managed to plug Mypillow on yesterday's episode of "The Sean Hannity Show"

DL Open Thread Tuesday August 17th 2021

The corrupt edifice that was our invasion and 20 year occupation of Afghanistan has come tumbling down in spectacularly speedy and chaotic fashion. Biden's address yesterday was heartbreakingly direct and honest.   My take is that given the situation he inherited from Bush, Obama and Trump, he said what needed to be said. And yet the humanitarian crisis will be long and nauseating.  Separating good faith criticism and bad faith criticism will be impossible. So, I agree with Alby. I’ll be staying far away from the Opinion Industrial Complex for a while. And also, this… You fasten all the triggers For the others to fire Then you sit back and watch When the death count gets higher You hide in your mansion While the young people’s blood Flows out of their bodies And is buried in the mud

Breaking: Rep Madinah Wilson-Anton to File Ethics Complaint Against Brady

Delaware Call Reporting:
The political consequences facing disgraced state House Representative Gerald Brady (D-RD4) continue to mount as the Delaware Call has learned that an official ethics complaint will be submitted in the Delaware General Assembly. Yesterday evening, the Members of the Boards of Directors of both the Delaware Chinese American Association (DCAA) and the Chinese American Community Center (CACC) signed an email which said in part:We believe that Mr. Brady is no longer fit for office as a state legislator, and we call for his immediate resignation. (Snip) In reply to the joint DCAA/CACC email, which was addressed to all 41 Members of the Delaware House of Representatives, Rep Madinah Wilson-Anton (D-RD26) wrote, “I agree with you and stand with you. I am in the process of filing an official ethics complaint.”

DL Open Thread Tuesday August 10th 2021

The Last Guy: The last guy’s attempt to sabotage the infrastructure bill has been a miserable failure. Mcconnell is now Biden's bitch.  Republicans in disarray.  Everything is dumbed down "horse race coverage" but as long as "team blue" is putting up runs ...I'm ok with it, I guess.

“Are you betraying the Republican base?” Bartiromo asked some GOP back bencher who defied Trump

Delta V:  Ron "Little Trump" DeSantis is waging a war on school mask mandates, and is threatening to withhold the paychecks of school board members who defy his mask ban. How To Keep Your Child Safe From DeSantis... I mean from The Delta Variant. Once Avoidable Climate Disasters: In climate news...Today's song of the day should be Carole King's - It's Too Late   Major U.N. climate report warns of "extreme" and "unprecedented" impacts Funny headlines: 

Texas State Rep. Steve Toth Says Mike Lindell Is Being 'Set Up by the Left'

...as if Lindell needs setting up. Good Question:  Judge asks why Capitol riot damage restitution is $1.5 million when cost to taxpayers is $500M Tech No Finally, I have to admit I felt a little queasy when I heard about Apple's plan to scan phones for child porn. Thousands sign open letter arguing against Apple plan to scan US iPhones for child sexual abuse images

All the “good” Republicans

It is funny* to think about how much time and energy Coons has put into promoting the idea that some Republicans are the "good" ones. For years this fantasy has allowed him to utterly ignore all crimes, the voter suppression, climate change denialism, the greedy-shitheadedness that is central to modern Republicanism. None of that terrible anti-American stuff matters because the silent majority of "good" ones will reveal their goodness in due time. *sad funny, not haha funny

DL Open Thread Monday August 9th 2021

Bipartisanship and denial: Democrats react to news  about the Trump regime's crimes against democracy and the American people.
This indifference to Donald Trump's crimes and the growing power of neofascism can also be explained by willful denial. When a society is in crisis, people find ways to convince themselves that somehow everything will be fine, because to face the dire reality of the situation is too painful.
Meanwhile... “He’s in”    The Last Guy's onetime press secretary, Sean Spicer, said his former boss would run for the presidency again in 2024. The head of the Republican National Committee (RNC) says that former President Trump "still leads the party," even as the RNC has vowed to remain neutral if Trump runs again in 2024. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel touted Trump's fundraising abilities in an interview on WABC 770 AM in New York, with Trump recently reporting more than $100 million available on hand entering the second half of 2021.
Does Ron DeSantis work for Covid-19? A federal judge in Florida issued an order Sunday allowing Norwegian Cruise Line to require passengers to prove they've been inoculated against Covid-19, despite a state ban that prohibits companies from adopting such measures.  
Climate Change is Real PEFKI, Greece — Pillars of billowing smoke and ash turned the sky orange and blocked out the sun above Greece’s second-largest island Sunday as a days-old wildfire devoured pristine forests and encroached on villages, triggering more evacuation alerts.