The question matters, because unless Ohio’s Democratic voters turn out in unexpected droves, Vance will become a U.S. senator (if you believe the polls). So who is he? First of all, he’s a liar. He tweeted on Jan. 6, 2022 (here), exactly one year after the Capitol insurrection, “Th[...]
Archive for October, 2022
Range war
Dwight and Steven Hammond, eastern Oregon cattle ranchers, set fires that escaped onto federal land in 1999, 2001, and 2006. They were convicted of arson and spent about 2½ years in prison until pardoned by President Trump. Read details here. Randy Snodgrass is a U.S. Forest Service “burn bos[...]
Progressives stumble on Ukraine
The House progressive caucus, led by Rep. Primala Jayapal (D-WA), released a well-meaning but awkward letter urging Biden to pursue a diplomatic solution to the Ukraine war on Monday, October 24, 2022. Within 24 hours, they retracted and disavowed it (see story here). As described by The Hill here, [...]
Who attacked America’s democracy?
And what should we do about them? At the center, of course, was Donald Trump. Most visible were the Capitol rioters, with the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys gangs the most visible of them. But they weren’t alone. The attempted coup also involved numerous “Republican officials, right-wing pa[...]
October 24th, 2022 - 8:47 pm § in News Media, Politics
Believe it or not, the GOP’s crime record is worse
Despite the homily about “lies, damned lies, and statistics,” crime data tells the real story. “On the one hand, it is accurate that the murder rate in the U.S. has gone up at an alarming rate. On the other hand, despite the right-wing media narrative to the contrary, this is a pro[...]
October 24th, 2022 - 7:58 pm § in Politics, Republicans
Photoshopped campaign ads appear in N.C. races
Republicans, who have a long history of doctoring images to smear political opponents (see, e.g., article here), are doing it in several 2022 North Carolina races. See example below and read story here. In this case, the target of the smear is state Rep. Ricky Hurtado, who narrowly defeated a GOP in[...]
October 24th, 2022 - 7:13 pm § in Politics, Republicans
Prosecute these drop-box vigilantes
“Right-wing groups have been staking out ballot boxes across the country and taking photos of people and their license plates as they cast votes in next month’s elections, all with the explicit encouragement of Republican politicians,” Huffington Post reported on Monday, October 24, 20[...]
What should voters deem disqualifying?
To be clear, I’m not talking about constitutional or legal disqualification, but rather suggesting that voters shouldn’t vote for candidates with certain characteristics, which I’ll get to, regardless of their party or policy positions. Criminals, for one. A record of dishonesty an[...]
October 24th, 2022 - 11:40 am § in Misc.
Is this child neglect?
Sam Adventure Baker, age 8, is a climbing wunderkind. It came naturally, as his parents are climbers, so he’s been climbing since he could walk. He’s done some impressive climbs, sort of, meaning he was attached to ropes and either hauled himself up or was hauled up. Now he’s doing[...]
October 24th, 2022 - 12:12 am § in Law and Courts
He fought the law and his victims won
His victims were the families of little children slaughtered in their classroom by a deranged young man with an AR-15 rifle. Alex Jones profiteered from their murders by calling the too-real school shooting a “hoax” and their grief-stricken families “crisis actors.” The injur[...]