Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Truest statement of the week

While the corporate media reported the story of Detroit’s bankruptcy with non-subtle narratives that the majority-Black city was badly governed, Glen was among the few who reported that banks pushed the city to financial ruin. He blamed the Black politicians who went along with derivative schemes which drove Detroit over the edge to complete insolvency. Michiganders had approved a referendum opposing the use of emergency financial managers who took control of cities and subjected them to brutal austerity measures such as cutting workers’ pensions. But a Republican governor ignored the will of the voters, and in the pages of Black Agenda Report, Glen Ford exposed the heist carried out by banks who pushed the city into bankruptcy and then were first in line to be paid.

Glen Ford was the first person to call attention to Cory Booker’s astonishing rise to prominence. In Booker’s first campaign for mayor of Newark, New Jersey it was Ford who revealed his ties to right-wing organizations such as the Manhattan Institute and the Bradley Foundation. His reporting was so good that Booker’s opponent distributed the Black Commentator articles which exposed the effort to groom a Black politician willing to carry out austerity, school privatization, and other right-wing initiatives that would ordinarily be anathema to Black voters. 

Booker was not the only member of what Black Agenda Report referred to as the “Black misleadership class.” The politicians and others thought of as leaders are not independent actors, instead they are given money, positions, and some degree of access to the world of the elites in order to influence Black people and get buy-in for the neo-liberal consensus. Glen Ford had a keen eye for their activities, and as a result Black Agenda Report did not succumb to the imperative to elevate and protect the Black face in a high place.

Nowhere was that more obvious than in his coverage of Barack Obama’s campaign and his presidential administration. While other Black leftists changed their political religion in the wake of Obama’s 2008 success, Glen Ford consistently maintained an independent political stance. He called Obama and Hillary Clinton “political twins” who would offer up the same policies which had so badly failed Black people. 

Ford saw what was coming when he described Obama’s ascendancy as the favorite of the 1 percent and marketing which made him appear to be progressive, as “Goldman Sachs and the anti-war movement being on the same page.” Ford regularly exposed the corrupting influence that Obama’s presidency had on Black Americans and their long history of radical politics.

 

-- Margaret Kimberley, "Glen Ford's Irreplaceable Journalism" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).

 

 

A note to our readers

 Hey -- 

Monday night.


Let's thank all who participated this edition which includes Dallas and the following:


The Third Estate Sunday Review's Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess and Ava,
Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude,

Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man,
C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review,
Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills),
Mike of Mikey Likes It!,
Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz),
Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix,
Ruth of Ruth's Report,
Wally of The Daily Jot,
Trina of Trina's Kitchen, 
Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ,
Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends,
Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts,
and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub.



And what did we come up with? 

 

 

 

Peace,


-- Jim, Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava and C.I.

 

 

 

Editorial?

In place of the editorial, we're reposting this:


For the second time in one week, the Green Zone has been breached

 

It really is cute the way this story keeps getting mistold.  The Parliament is in the Green Zone.  Moqtada's cult isn't just seizing the building, they are breaking into the Green Zone.  Again, when this first happened earlier in the week, I pointed out the videos on Arabic social media of Moqtada's cult removing concrete blocks that are the protective barrier around the Green Zone.  Why is this detail not being included by most US outlets?  AP is including it: "Earlier in the day and heeding al-Sadr’s calls, the demonstrators used ropes and chains to pull down cement barricades leading to the gate of Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses government buildings and embassies."


Do they have to attack the US Embassy in the Green Zone before observers start to wonder about how come the Green Zone is being invaded?  Or to question safety measures?

EURASIA REVIEW includes this, "The demonstrators breached the fortified barriers around the Green Zone, the INA said. The highly-secured Green Zone in the capital is home to several government buildings and diplomatic missions."  THE LIBYAN EXPRESS notes Mohammed al-Halbusi, Speaker of Parliament, "Halbusi also called on Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi to take necessary measures to protect state institutions and demonstrators."

The United Nations also has no trouble noting that the Green Zone was breached:


In a statement issued late Saturday night, the UN chief appealed to all relevant actors “to take immediate steps to de-escalate the situation, avoid any further violence, and ensure the protection of peaceful protesters and State institutions”. 

For the second time in a week, on Saturday protesters stormed the parliament in Baghdad, breaching the high-security Green Zone and injuring more than 120 people, news media reported.

Issue at hand

Following nine months of a political deadlock that has prevented the creation of a new government, on Wednesday hundreds of people first broke into the parliament.

News reports said that the  unrest has been triggered by supporters of Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr – whose block won the majority of seats last October and who opposes the nomination of a pro-Iran rival candidate for prime minister.

Respect fundamental rights

Mr. Guterres noted that “freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are fundamental rights that must be respected at all times”.

“The Secretary-General urges all parties and actors to rise above their differences and form, through peaceful and inclusive dialogue, an effective national government that will be able to deliver on longstanding demands for reform, without further delay,” the statement concluded.



The Green Zone, we were told, was a protected area.  When it was almost breached in 2006, Nouri al-Maliki and the US government had a meltdown.  When ISIS began taking over territory in Iraq (during Nouri's second term as prime minister), one of the reasons Barack Obama was publicly sending US troops back into Iraq was because the US government was afraid that the Green Zone would fall. Barack had already begun sending US troops back into Iraq in the fall of 2012.  If you're late to the party, that's when Tim Arango (NEW YORK TIMES) reported:


 
Iraq and the United States are negotiating an agreement that could result in the return of small units of American soldiers to Iraq on training missions. At the request of the Iraqi government, according to General Caslen, a unit of Army Special Operations soldiers was recently deployed to Iraq to advise on counterterrorism and help with intelligence.        


Now the Green Zone has twice been breached.  Is there a reason that the US press isn't discussing it?  And is the White House so focused on Joe Biden's COVID that no one's paying attention to what's taking place?


Radical hate monger Moqtada al-Sadr is responsible for the deaths of many Americans.  It would be nice if the US government could take a moment to comment on the invasion of the Green Zone since that is where the US government's largest embassy is located.


The Parliament building was empty for those who aren't being properly informed by news outlets.  Arabic media is very clear that the police warned this might happen ahead of today and that there was no session taking place as a result.  


So Moqtada's goons invaded an empty building.  


The issue here should be that the Green Zone has now been breached twice in one week.

The US compound/embassy is supposed to be impenetrable.  Maybe it is, maybe it isn't.  But with the unrest and the continued US presence in Iraq, this is something a functioning government would be publicly addressing.  And a functioning press would be demanding statements about.


None of this is a call for more US troops to be in Iraq -- all US troops should be out and the size of the so-called diplomatic presence should be drastically reduced.  But the US government's not listening to me.  They have chosen to keep Americans in Iraq.  They owe to the American people to issue, at the very least, a statement about what's going on and how it might or might not impact the safety of Americans in Baghdad.


The following sites updated:






TV: UNCOUPLED

What caught our interest in UNCOUPLED was a GUARDIAN slam that said the show was SEX AND THE CITY for gay men but this time they didn't have to pretend to be women since times had changed.  Huh?  We get it.  We made the joke, we're sure, years ago.  And we're sure we credited THE SIMPSONS for the joke since they made it on "Half-Decent Proposal" back on February 10, 2002.  THE GUARDIAN didn't credit, it just ripped off.
 
3 JESS
 
 

And, thing is, it's a funny joke -- or was two decades ago -- but it was never really accurate.  Yes, the series was created by Darren Starr who is (and was then) openly gay; however, Samantha, Carrie, Miranda and Frigid (oops!) weren't gay men and were not gay men pretending to be women.  SEX AND THE CITY resonated with women.  It did so because Darren offered a more complex look at women than TV had prior -- and because this was a more complex look at women, many needed to pretend there was something wrong with it at that time.  At that time.  THE GUARDIAN needs to be embarrassed of the review they posted.  It reeks of sexism and homophobia.  

UNCOMPLICATED?  It just reeks.

No, it doesn't.  We couldn't resist.

UNCOMPLICATED stars Neil Patrick Harris.  We really could leave it at that. 

By that, we mean, the show focuses on him in the early episodes -- too much so.  It was a rare scene that took place without Neil in it.  We eventually got some.  But for far too many moments, every other character seemed less a character and more of a prop existing solely to prop up Neil's character   If this had been the first eight or nine episodes of SEX AND THE CITY, we doubt viewers would have flocked to the show.  That said, Neil has a lot more appeal and warmth than Sarah Jessica Parker.  So we put up with Michael (his character) non-stop moping.

His partner (boyfriends who live together, they never married) Colin (Tuc Watkins) has cold feet suddenly -- as he turns 50 so Colin moves out and breaks up.

You would have thought it was the next pandemic.  Or war.  

Darren was smart to cast Neil because there aren't many other actors we stick around for this long to watch them mope and whine and be depressed and mope and get angry and mope and mope and mope.

The good news is that it can never be like this again.  Michael and Colin could get back together and Colin could leave the next day and it won't be like it was before.  There's no shock to a second bailing.  

Neil got some good one liners during all of this moping but it was still way too much moping.  

And way too much self-pity.  We've all had break ups and, yes, they can be very painful but, no, everyone around us doesn't have to stop their world to daily focus on us.  

Equally true, the whole Michael is hurt works a lot less when Michael both hurts another person and acts like Queen Priss.

We're not fond of drama queens -- whether they use the pronouns he and him, she and her or they and them, we're not fond of drama queens.  You may remember we lost a lot of sympathy for Ryan in SPECIAL when he ignores his boyfriend repeatedly until suddenly wanting to have sex with him -- and have it right then -- and then Ryan turned all priss because he got a bit of fecal matter on his penis.  

Something much milder happens to Michael.

He briefly decouples from the caboose on the pity train long enough to meet Luke -- a 3rd grade school teacher played by Dan Amboyer.  Luke is wonderful and great for Michael's ego . . . until a friend puts a bug in Michael's ear -- six days in a row, isn't that a lot to spend with someone.  Michael dismisses it because they'll be apart the next night due to the poker game.  But then Michael invites Luke to the poker game.  And Luke wanting to be the couple they've been being for a week but, now, in front of Michael's friends leaves Michael tense.  Luke and he are discussing everyone while doing the dishes after and suddenly Luke farts.

And.

That.

Is.

It.

He breaks up with Luke on the spot.

Luke can't believe it.  

Nor could we.

We couldn't believe that someone in the NYC gay scene -- where what blow jobs were to the 20th century, tossed salads are to the 21st one -- would be such a prude.  And we couldn't believe it as Luke expressed his disbelief and Michael kept insisting that they just met, that this was no relationship, they just met.

Considering all the moping from Michael that preceded this moment, he didn't not come off well.

If you think too much about it, Michael doesn't come off well a lot.  

He seems to believe he's a top.  His friend Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas) challenges Michael's self-description as a top.  Michael insists he is and that versatile is not the label because it doesn't apply to one time 20 years before.  Yet Michael comes off like a bottom.  For example, ER's Goran Višnjić is shown an apartment by Michael and Suzanne (Tisha Campbell) and, following the accidental exchange of a dick pick, he begins texting Michael.  The two quickly end up in bed together and we got the impression that Goran was playing the top.  Then Michael's father fixes Michael up with his dermatologist.  And they're going to have sex.  And the doctor assumes Michael's the bottom -- that's why he asks him to roll over.  Michael does -- a lot quicker than we'd expect a top to -- but then begins to whine about the size issue and how he might not be able to handle it.  Because the doctor is hugely endowed and because he's a dermatologist, he's gotten used to this sort of reaction and his answer has been botox -- injected into the hole.  Suddenly, it's all off.  Michael's in a panic.  No, his hole might gape and for how long and -- Again, Michael really seems to be a bottom and he really seems to be embarrassed about being a bottom.

You may be wondering when the moping comes in?  Constantly.  Anytime Michael's not attempting to live out the Beach Boys' "I Get Around," he can be found moping.  At once point, he manages to do both.  He hooks up on the street with a stranger -- a younger stranger.  They go back to the younger guy's place and Michael wants to know where the condoms are?  (Wouldn't a top carry condoms if they were supposed to be used?)  The guy tells Michael that he's on prep and this and that and Michael goes off and transforms . . . into Will Truman on WILL & GRACE.  Specifically, he's Will in "Daddy Issues" when Will lectures millennial Ben Platt.  But there, it made some sense.  Like the young man, we're confused by Michael climbing on the cross of condoms -- and confused long before he brings up the AIDS quilt and left wondering if Michael truly believes that wearing a condom in the past has made him a heroic character?


Stanley's an interesting character and is that long before he faces a health crisis.  Emerson Brooks probably essays the most complex role -- a player who, too quickly for the show, has realized all that is wrong with him and his life.  He, Brooks and Tisha Campbell make for a solid cast.  But Marcia Gay Harden's Clair has already exhausted our patience.  We don't find her funny when she's making her racist remark, for example.  Someone seems to think having this rich and rude White woman on the show is somehow needed or funny.  Do they think it's Karen Walker?  Megan Mullally found that role within two episodes and she added much more heart to it by then that Harden has in her full season.  She does not fit with the series.  While it is funny when Tisha Campbell gets off her line about needing to talk to Clair about consent, it really isn't funny when Clair grabs Suzanne and kisses her (Clair is posing as a lesbian to make her husband jealous).  Maybe it's all the liberties that White Clair has already taken with African-Americans Suzanne and Mia?  Maybe it's the fact that she was Suzanne and Michael's boss and has forced friendship (or her idea of it) onto them?  It's just not that funny nor is she.  

Tisha is and the smartest move Darren and co-creator Jeffrey Richman was casting Neil and Tisha as best friends.  They have a real chemistry and they're both warm and appealing.  Next season will hopefully involve less moping and involve more efforts at beefing up storylines for the ensemble.  UNCOUPLED has a great deal to offer.  No, it is not SEX AND THE CITY (nor is it trying to be -- except possibly Clair who comes off like an unsexy and cold Samantha wanna-be -- if that's what they're going for, recast the role with Kim Cattrall ).  But it could be something much better -- provided we're done with the moping.  









Roundtable

Jim: Roundtable time again. We'll be talking about Iraq, independent media and who knows what other topics.  Remember our e-mail address is thethirdestatesundayreview@yahoo.com but you can also use common_ills@yahoo.com.  Participating in our roundtable are  The Third Estate Sunday Review's Dona, Ty, Jess, Ava, and me, Jim; Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude; Betty of Thomas Friedman Is a Great Man; C.I. of The Common Ills and The Third Estate Sunday Review; Kat of Kat's Korner (of The Common Ills); Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix; Mike of Mikey Likes It!; Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz); Ruth of Ruth's Report; Trina of Trina's Kitchen; Wally of The Daily Jot; Marcia of SICKOFITRDLZ; Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends; Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Ann of Ann's Mega Dub. Betty's kids did the illustration. You are reading a rush transcript.




Roundtable
 

Jim (Con't): We've had a lot of time pulling it together for a full weekend edition.  So we're starting with a roundtable and let's talk age: Should Joe Biden run for re-election?  He'll be 81 years old.  If elected, he'd be 82 when he got sworn in for a second term.  He's too old.

Dona: Let me note that Donald Trump is also too old.  He'd be 78.  Joe is currently the oldest and Donald was the oldest until Joe stumbled onstage. 

Mike:  They're all too old.  RBG made it clear that they're not smart enough to retire.

Jess: Well, go through our archives, we've noted that here repeatedly.  We said that if there is a special election, for example, because some elderly US senator died in office that the cost of the election should be billed to the estate.  We were making the point that it was time for Robert Byrd to retire and he didn't and he died in office.  The same with Ted Kennedy.  These supposedly 'smart' people don't know when to retire.


Rebecca: Because they don't want to retire, retiring means that they lose their power and they're just another old person at the mercy of a very cruel nation.

Ruth: I am old and it is time for Dianne Feinstein to retire from the Senate.  She is 89 years old. Judge Judy is 79 and, watching JUDY JUSTICE, it seems pretty clear that she's gotten too old for her TV show.  Not trying to be harsh, I promise.

Rebecca: No, you're correct.  Her granddaughter on the show softens Judy a bit but she is coming off like the woman screaming, "Get off my yard!" at everyone who's walking the sidewalk.  There will be a second season of JUSTICE JUDY, for anyone wondering.  AMAZON renewed it back in March.

Marcia: I think Rebecca's right that they do not want to retire.  I think they also realize how pathetic they are and retirement means they'll be held accountable.  People will say, for example, "Dianne Feinstein got elected during the genderquake but she did nothing to codify ROE V WADE."  As long as they hang on the office, some people will avoid saying the obvious in the hopes that maybe even DiFi will finally do something good if we give her time.  


Ty: We used to talk about legacy here a lot in the early years -- often times Jess would note the Carole King song "Legacy" from CITY STREETS in fact:


You better think about the legacy
That you're gonna leave behind
Things are getting wasted out of hand
People stealing each other blind
Hey, that ain't the way it oughta be
You can leave a better world than you find
You can look down, turn around, run away
But you can't put it out of your mind
'Cause it's your legacy


Ty (Con't): And I think it's really that they don't care about their legacy.  They care about satiating their lust for money, they care about their greed, they don't care what happens after they're dead and gone.


Betty: That would certainly explain their failure to seriously act on Climate Change.  I guess if you're 89 year old Dianne Feinstein, it doesn't really matter to you what's going to happen to the earth in ten years. It doesn't matter to you and you have no sense of urgency.  This goes to Joe Biden, to Dianne Feinstein, to unnamed members of Congress that Jane Fonda wrote in her book don't want to do anything about the climate crisis, to Jane Fonda who was to chicken to name these elected officials.  Jane's how old right now?  84?  Ava's nodding.  So 84.  And that's also why she won't call out Biden.  Calling out Biden means calling attention to the fact that he's younger than she is.

Kat: I'm sorry, Betty, I need to derail your point for one moment.  I know a journalist who is a friend of Ava and C.I.'s and he loathes Jane Fonda.  He talks about before she retired from acting and married Ted Turner, right before, she was trying to act like Madonna -- his words -- in the interview he did with her and that she was just trying to act so sexy and that it was embarrassing to him because she's a talented actress.  For two weeks now, I've seen repeated headlines about Jane and her active sex life that she wants the world to know about.  I mean, come on now.  You're 84.

Ava: It should be noted that she's blazing a trail in one way by making it clear that seniors can have active sex lives.  So applause for that.  But the way she handles it sometimes, I'm with Kat, it's just a little bit too much.  It's a real shame that a woman who once thought KLUTE and A DOLL'S HOUSE were the epitome of what she wanted her career to be is back to acting like the sex object some accused her of being in BARBARELLA.  

C.I.: And, sorry to jump in, and I do know Jane very well, but it should be noted that women are valued for their sex appeal.  Even more than their looks.  Studio males don't ask it as much now but the question used to be, when casting a female role, is she f**kable?  Not "Is she pretty?" even.  It was about desire.  Much more upsetting than the vanishing of looks, is the vanishing of desire.  Joan Rivers realized that and would make jokes about it -- she'd joke about how she carried a tampon and would make a big show of it so men would think she hadn't gone through the change.  Jane is a victim of the same world we all are and it's a world that has placed value on women where they are desirable.  Jane's much older than her mother was when her mother passed away and her grandmothers really didn't offer much in the way of role models.  So she's navigating her own way and I applaud her for that.  I do get what Kat and Ava are saying.  But it can be scary to realize that desire for you is vanishing -- in part or in whole.  She is fighting that stereotype/ingrained in this society belief, so good for her.  I'd actually prefer to see her fight it onscreen and not in interviews.  I'd prefer to see her do some worthwhile film work.  She could do independent films, she could do foreign films, she could self-finance.  And if it's a fear of being seen as vain, I don't think most of would refer to it as "Fonda's vanity project."  We'd see it as the woman who revolutionized the home entertainment industry and created the huge fitness business now plowing some of her money into creating films about late life women.  There really are not roles there.  Jane could self-finance and sell it to NETFLIX.  Or share it with them.  I'd love to see her as someone living in a nursing home who maybe has one real person there she trusts and what happens when the person is gone, dies, and she's still in the nursing home?  There are so many stories about older women that are not told.  I would love to see Jane spearhead some of those portrayals.  And, to be clear, being older doesn't mean she couldn't look good -- she is still a pretty woman -- or that she couldn't play a woman in a romance with a man or just having casual sex with a man.  But I'd like to see her play a few roles, the way Vanessa Redgrave does, that allow her to use her wisdom, her years to add to the performance.  

Ruth: While you were talking about that, I was thinking of Treva, my best friend since childhood.  And I was thinking one of us is going to go first and I hope it is me because I honestly cannot picture the world without my lifelong friend.  And you are right, these stories are not made into movies.  Jane Fonda could probably put together a film like that, on a very small budget, with an edgy, up and coming director -- maybe a woman -- and really deliver in a role like that, really register.  

Kat: Okay, back to Betty's point, there is less a sense of urgency after a certain age.

Trina: That's really true.  I think of myself right now and, believe it or not, I don't get as upset about things.  Mike, your oldest brother will tell you that his kid gets away with murder.  He's always telling me that I would've been all over him for doing the same thing.  I probably would have.  But I'm not in my 20s anymore.  So I have mellowed and I've also learned that a lot of the things we think are so very important, really aren't.  I do not apply that attitude to climate change, to be clear.  But I'm not 89 yet.  When I am, if I am, will I know enough to be aware of what needs urgency and what I can be casual about?  I don't know.  But I am offering that to just offer another possible reason that some people appear not to care.  

Jim: That's a very good point and thank you for bringing it up.  


Jess: I'm glad it's in there for the record because I'm sure an explanation like that applies to some people.

Stan: And that's a reality as much as it's a reality that some people don't care because they're going to be dying soon.  They don't care about a legacy, they just want to amass as much money as they can.

Jim: Good point and I'm asking C.I. to speak to it.

C.I.: Oh, okay.  GOSSIP.  It's a show, a documentary series, on SHOWTIME and we -- Ava and I enjoyed it.  We've talked about it with Jim, among others.  And I compared Nancy Pelosi to Leona Helmsley in that documentary.  Nancy is Speaker of the House.  Leona is friends with gossip columnist Cindy Adams of THE NEW YORK POST.  Leona has been dubbed by the press "the Queen of mean."  She lost her power when convicted of various tax crimes.  As Cindy notes in the mini-series, that's when she lost her power and when she lost her power, she lost the bulk of her friends.


Jim: Cindy Adams dumped her?

Ava: No, Cincy continued to be her friend after Leona got out of prison.  Cindy dropped her when she took her mother over to Leona's and Leona had a fit because her mother got in the pool and Leona did not let gay people in her pool.  That's when Cindy dropped Leona as a friend and began attacking her in print.


Dona: What was the Tom Cruise story?


C.I.: It wasn't accurate.  Tom was giving an interview to a gossip columnist -- already sounds suspect -- and his two front teeth fell out.  He asked the gossip columnist not to print it and he supposedly said that he'd been playing with one of his kids and they got knocked loose.  Tom wears at least one cap on his front tooth and that's probably what came loose.  It's been years since I spoke to him but that's due to a hockey accident when he was in high school.  I found the story suspect when it was told in the documentary for that reason.  And I'm saying at least one, it may be both.  It's been years since we've spoken at any real length.


Ty: An e-mail from Todd in Frankston notes The People's Party and a new party, Forward.


Ruth: Like the Jewish FORWARD?  Just joking.


Ann: We could all use some humor.  This is the political party that Andrew Yang has formed with Christine Todd Whitman.  It's supposed to be a new political party that bridges the gaps between Democrats and Republicans.  I don't see any big gaps between the party, but, okay.  They're a third party.  I encourage them because I'm a member of a third party: The Green Party.  We need more voices, not less.  I learned that mantra years ago from THE COMMON ILLS.

Jess: Like Ann, I'm a member of the Green Party.  So the People's Party and Forward have entered the ring.  And we should probably note the Libertarian Party.  It's a rather large third party.  There are many others.

Ty: Another e-mail, C.I., this one applies to here and at THE COMMON ILLS.  Hilaree e-mails that she wished you would take the time to confront Donald Trump on the reality that he lost the 2020 election.


C.I.: I believe I have already addressed that.  Around the time the electoral college voted.  As I understand Donald's beef and that of some others, they insist he really won but the count was wrong and he and some of his supporters, as I understand it, think he can be declared president now.  No.  Even if they proved that he won a state he lost in, it does not matter.  There are no partial terms given to someone due to a recount after someone else is sworn in.  The way the Constitution works, after the electors voted, it no longer mattered.  We do not have direct democracy in the United States.  Our presidential election is decided by the electoral college.  Once it voted, what was done in any state or multiple states is honestly besides the point.  I'm not saying the election was stolen from Donald.  I am saying that even if it was, it's now over and he needs to move on.  He's looking as desperate on that topic as Hillary Clinton did as she refused to take accountability for her loss in 2016 and instead invented fake excuses -- including Russiagate.


Jim: Some want Hillary to run -- some in the media -- for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  Any thoughts?


Rebecca: Hillary needs to go away.  

Ruth: I would like to see Hillary Clinton run for president again but on the Republican ticket.  As she grows ever more conservative and returns to her Goldwater Girl upbringing, it seems the natural evolution for Hillary Clinton.


Jim: So no one wants to see her head the Democratic ticket in 2024?


Wally: No and we don't want to see Bernie Sanders run either.  I agreed with what US House Rep Dean Phillips was quoted saying in Mike's "Applause for Dean Phillips."


Mike: This is what he said:
 

I have respect for Joe Biden ... despite some mistakes and some missteps despite his age, I think he’s a man of decency, of good principle, of compassion, of empathy, and of strength. But to answer your question directly, which I know is quite rare, Chad, no, I don't. I think the country would be well served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up. I think Joe Biden has served our country admirably with principle and with decency at a time when we surely needed it. But I am part of a caucus here in Congress where three top leaders are over 80 years old, where the president will be over 80 in the next election. And I think it's time for a generational change. I'm not too shy to say that I do believe that most of my colleagues feel the same way."


Isaiah: I agree with that.  And I agree with term limits for Supreme Court Justices.  

Kat: It really is a thing whose time has come.

Dona: Kat, you and Elaine covered this topic last week ("Love the idea of term limits for the Supreme Court" and read Elaine's "Term limits and mandatory retirement for Supreme Court justices").  What do you think would be the right way to handle it?


Kat: I think a law could be passed to address it.

Dona: But it would alter the Constitution so wouldn't it need an amendment?

Elaine: Not necessarily.  They could do some reassigning, for example, and some think this might justify it without an amendment.


C.I.: Legally, it would most likely require one.  In practice, the Court will have members who object to it.  I doubt they would recuse themselves.  I would guess that barring an amendment, the Court would refuse to recognize any such changes.  If it went to a vote of the people, it would most likely do rather well.  There is a strong sense on the part of the public that changes need to take place -- that predates the destruction of ROE V WADE.  Since ROE has been destroyed, there is a growing belief that the Court is out of touch with the mood of the country.   Getting it on the ballot might be hard, but an amendment for term limits would stand a strong chance of passing. 

Dona: Should it?  I'm directing that to Elaine and Kat because C.I.'s just motioned that she's not weighing in on that topic -- which means she'd like to think about it further.

Elaine: Yes, it should happen.  We are 22 years into this century and we have a number of judges who are trapped not in the last century but one two centuries ago.


Kat: Agreed.  RBG should be the example though.  She was dying and she knew it and she refused to step down.  If they won't step down when they're ill, they don't know when to step down.  When you're ill, you aren't at your best mentally and you may not have the stamina you need to persuade others on the bench with you.    They need to learn when to pack it in.  And, since they can't learn it themselves, We The People need to see to it.


Jim: Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion in DOBBS made clear that he would like to move on revoking various rights for LGBTQs.  Reader Jonah e-mailed to note he was very upset by a recent roundtable where I appeared to cut off Ty when Ty was speaking.  Jonah notes that Ty is gay and I am straight and "It did not read right."  Ty?

Ty: Jonah, I had stopped speaking and was just shaking my head.  That doesn't show up in the transcript.  The way you took that was a natural reaction -- one my own aunt had.  But to clarify, Jim had not cut me off.  I had stopped talking, I was too upset, and I was just shaking my head and indicating to Jim to continue on.  Jim gave some sort of a wrap up statement to end the roundtable at that point and it does read like Jim has shut me up and cut me off but that's not what happened.  Thank you to Jonah and everyone else that was concerned about it and wrote in.

Marcia: I'm not married.  Ty is.  And Clarence Thomas wants to take away Ty's right to be married, to erase it.  And that is upsetting.  I think to all of us.  And it's outrageous.  The threat lingers out there.  It's forced my girlfriend and I to decide we're going to get married.  We've been together for a few years now.

Jim: The Congress?

Marcia: I believe I have done a post thanking everyone that I know of who is trying to codify marriage equality.  If I have missed anyone, I am sorry.  But, yes, I do thank everyone in Congress who has worked to make this happen.  It's a shame that couldn't have been done with ROE.  But it's good to know the Congress is going to work on this.


Ty: In the US Senate, Senator Tammy Baldwin is working very hard reaching out to her Republican peers.  As an out senator, she can put a face on the issue.  I'm very thankful for her.  

Marcia: Me too.  And I'm glad the measure passed the Senate.  

Cedric: This goes to why we need term limits.  People my age and younger have no problem with LGBTQs.  But it's a huge shock for some of the elderly.  They're out of step.  I don't want to turn this into hatred on Jonthan Turley but I join Elaine in being very disappointed in him.  Clarence Thomas' concurring opinion is offensive and there's no way to justify it.  If Turley also believes that gay rights don't matter, wish he'd said that years ago before I took him seriously.  If he does believe that gay rights matter, he needs to find his voice because he's losing me.


Ty: On that topic.  In a snapshot, C.I. called out Glenn Greenwald when Glenn went on FOX NEWS to praise Clarence Thomas as a great guy.  A great guy does not want me to lose my rights.  It was appalling to watch him justify and excuse Clarence.  I think it's appalling that C.I., who is not personally effected by this, is a stronger voice on this issue than Glenn Greenwald.  


Rebecca: Ty, I agree completely.  When Glenn did that, I was appalled and remain appalled.  He has two children and a husband.  If he won't stick up for himself, at least stick up for your family.  Someone who makes clear that they want to destroy you is not a good person.


Ruth: And, if I am remembering correctly with regards to what C.I. wrote, that is before you get into the reality that Justice Thomas sexually harassed Anita Hill. 

Jess: With regards to Turley, I don't think Jonathan grasps that a number of us who read him and watch his reaction to Thomas' opinion are in need of a statement if not a full post.  I think he's assuming that we all know where he stands.  We don't.  Maybe we're reeling from ROE still but we need some words on this.  As for Glenn, we knew he wasn't left.  We didn't expect him to be.  When he and that ugly woman were roll dogs -- Jane what's her name -- don't supply it, I don't care -- we knew he was a Libertarian and other than his hatred for women, we puzzled over why he was trashing Hillary in 2008.  But it's one thing to be a libertarian and it's another to refuse to defend your own family.  Shame on him.  I have no respect for him.

Isaiah: I feel sorry for his husband David but at least his husband is an adult.  What must it look like to his children if they're aware of his defense of Clarence Thomas?  

Ty: I know.  I don't see Glenn as a man anymore.  I see him as a little boy.  Because, if nothing else, a man is going to fight for his family.  Same thing with a woman.  If Glenn were female, I'd say he was a girl because a grown ass woman is going to fight to protect her family.  It's only the immature who won't. 


Ava: We need to read something into this transcript.  The RFMA, Respect For Marriage Act, was explained by Mark Joseph Stern (SLATE) as follows:



None of these descriptions fully captures the scope of the RFMA. The bill would not require every state to license same-sex marriages, as they are currently obligated to under Obergefell v. Hodges. So it does not codify Obergefell, as some commentators—including Glenn Greenwald—have incorrectly asserted. The RFMA would repeal DOMA, directing the federal government to recognize same-sex couples’ lawful marriages. But it also goes further, compelling states to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere—even if the Supreme Court overturns Obergefell and restores states’ authority to refuse marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

Put simply, the RFMA creates a backstop to ensure that every same-sex couple can retain protections after Obergefell’s demise if their own state nullifies their marriage. And it does so on strong constitutional grounds that should withstand any legal challenge.




Marcia: The Senate needs to support that.  I hope enough Republicans will join Democrats in passing this.


C.I.: In the Senate, the bill was introduced by Senators Tammy Baldwin, Dianne Feinstein and Susan Collins. 


Jim; Thank you, Ava and C.I. for that.  They take the notes during these roundtables and often don't speak and never speak as much as they should. This is a rush transcript.  The best e-mail address to reach us at is common_ills@yahoo.com.

 

 

What if?

We like US House Rep Linda Sanchez, so maybe we aren't taking 'the incident' seriously enough.  Asher Notheis (THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER) reported:




Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA) said she flipped off the GOP dugout Thursday night because she heard an offensive comment and reacted "in the heat of the moment."


Sanchez, who described the Congressional Baseball Game as a time for politicians of both parties to come together for a night, said when she heard an "offensive and misogynistic" comment from the Republican side, it "really struck a nerve," according to a statement obtained by the Daily Caller.


"I have no tolerance for men who make women feel like they are unimportant or don't belong — especially on the field," Sanchez's statement read. "I will always stand against that kind of bigotry."






That's what happened.  Again, others may be upset.  But it didn't bother us and we started wondering what would?

If Linda Sanchez was walking into a Ways and Means Committee hearing and hollered, "Hey, Tom Rice, I got your oversight right here!" while flipping him off, would we be bothered?

We know we would laugh out loud if she was seated and speaking to Vern Buchanan while stroking the side of one face with a middle finger.  

It would be funny and kind of adorable -- like those Haribo Gummy Bear commercials. 

 

 

 

Video of the week

 

2022 deaths

Each year, people are born and people die.  Reader Troy Montgomery e-mailed noting that many community sites note passings and thought we could keep a running link page on that.  That's a good idea.  We'll try to include this in future editions this year as sites cover additional deaths.  You'll note a lot of links go to Ruth because she tends to cover passings more than anyone else in the community.  The list may not be complete and the only order for the first twelve is the order of what we remembered while we were doing this -- the order we remembered the deaths in. 

 

 

1) Sally Kellerman -- see Ruth's "Sally Kellerman"

 

 2) Ronnie Spector -- see Betty's "Ronnie Specter," Ruth's "Ronnie Spector" and C.I.'s "Iraq snapshot"


2) Naomi Judd -- see Kat's "Grace Slick, Naomi Judd," "One more time honoring Naomi Judd" and "Naomi Judd"

 

3) Sidney Poitier -- see Betty's "A great actor passed -- not a great person, not a great lover, not a great activist"

4) Ray Liotta -- see Ruth's "Ray Liotta"


 5) Peter Bogdanovich -- see Stan's "Peter Bogdonavich"


6) Andy Fletcher -- see Kat's "Andy Fletcher"

 

7)  Bo Hopkins -- see Ruth's "Bo Hopkins"

 

8) William Hurt -- see Ann's "Not sure if I believe Marlee Matlin now"

 

9) Meat Loaf -- see Kat's "Meat Loaf"

 

10) Howard Hessman -- see Ruth's "Howard Hessman"

 

11) Rosa Lee Hawkins -- see Ruth's "Rosa Lee Hawkins"

 

12) Dwayne Hickman -- see Ruth's "Dwayne Hickman"

 

13) William Hart -- see Ruth's "William Hart of The Deflonics has passed away


14) Mark Shields -- see Ruth's "Mark Shields"

 

15) Nichelle Nichols -- see Ruth's "Nichelle Nichols


16)  Bob Rafelson -- see Ruth's "Bob Rafelson has passed away"

 

 

 

Tweet of the week

From Ajamu Baraka:


The ultranationalists in Ukraine lost the possibility of national self-determination as soon as they went along with the illegal coup in 2014. Now with the war & the raid to come from U.S. & Western capital Ukraine is no more.

Song of summer

 

 

Diana Ross and Tame Impala's "Turn Up The Sunshine."

This edition's playlist

 

 

 1) Harry Styles' HARRY'S HOUSE.

 

2)  Diana Ross' THANK YOU.

 

3) Jack Johnson's MEET IN THE MOONLIGHT.


4) George Ezra's GOLD RUSH KID.

 

 

5) Chase Rice's THE ALBUM.

 

6) Rod Stewart's THE TEARS OF HERCULES.

 

7) Adele's 30.

 


8) Bob Dylan's ROUGH AND ROWDY WAYS.

 

 

9) Janet Jackson's UNBREAKABLE


 


10) Ashford & Simpson's STREET OPERA.

 

 

Highlights

a park painting 11

This piece is written by Rebecca of Sex and Politics and Screeds and Attitude, Cedric of Cedric's Big Mix, Kat of Kat's Korner, Betty of Thomas Friedman is a Great Man, Mike of Mikey Likes It!, Elaine of Like Maria Said Paz, Ruth of Ruth's Report, Marcia of SICKOFITRADLZ, Stan of Oh Boy It Never Ends, Ann of Ann's Mega Dub, Isaiah of The World Today Just Nuts and Wally of The Daily Jot. Unless otherwise noted, we picked all highlights.

 

 "For the second time in one week, the Green Zone ha..." "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Iraq snapshot," "Love the idea of term limits for the Supreme Court," "Tim Reid and Reuters can't stop lying," "The issues of the day weigh on Kamala Harris," "They should worry about looking too extreme," "Our rights are hanging by a thread." "Applause for Dean Phillips," "The dangerous campaign trick that could blow up in...," "It's time for Joe to go," "It doesn't end with FULL HOUSE, Kamala knows it never does," "Barack thinks he can pretend he's not responsible," "Why has no special counsel been appointed?," "Whoopi Goldberg offers a pretend apology," "Sorry, Senator Portman, you are wrong," "Keshia Geter," "Thank you, Pete, and thank you, Isaiah," "Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert peddle h..,." "Things are getting real ugly in Amy's Kitchen," "Look who's hurting the nurses," "chris cuomo wants a comeback - i just want him to go away," "Look who got paid off for services rendered," "Howie Hawkins," "Term limits and mandatory retirement for Supreme Court justices," "Graham Elwood, Lee Camp, Ava and C.I., Alan Macleod," "Not feeling sad about a robbery in the news," "Another Hunter Biden cover up?," "Kamala serves a purpose," "THIS JUST IN! JOE HAS A PLAN!," "COVID can't quit him." and "Taffy on the terrace with Joe" -- news coverage in the community.



 'cicely tyson," "summer read: danforth prince and darwin porter's 'lana turner: hearts and diamonds take all'" and "Danforth Prince and Darwin Porter's Lana Turner: Hearts and Diamonds Take All" -- book coverage in the community.

 

 

"the gay gaston" -- Rebecca notes a cute guy.

 

 

"Harry Styles and George Ezra," "Sade, Smokey, Diana and great food," "Chase Rice, Simon & Garfunkle, Diana Ross, Amanda Shires, etc," "Greedy Bruce Springsteen" and "Joni Mitchell"-- music coverage in the community.

  


"Where are the feature films about women of musical note?," "DISNEY+ continues is sexist treatment of MARVEL female characters," "Norman Lear reveals his age and so much more," "Oscar gripes?," "50 great rom-coms," "Again on NOPE," "Weekend box office," "Ava and C.I. take on a really bad mini-series,"  "animal kingdom (and full frontal is axed)" and "Bob Rafelson has passed away" -- film and TV coverage in the community.

 

"Baby Stacey Wants On The Ticket" -- Isaiah dips into the archives.


 "Under the water," and "Sleeper Shark" -- science coverage.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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