Old Cyclist for Democracy

@DavidGruberg
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219 Posts
My look to the week ahead is out. Dysfunction in the House, cameras in the courtroom, Trump’s terrifying immigration plan, gerrymander wars, and questions finally by the media about Trump’s mental state. https://open.substack.com/pub/statuskuo/p/the-week-ahead-111223?r=1zr8b&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
The Week Ahead (11.12.23)

There are five stories I’m watching as we head into this week. Two of them are about our political gridlock (both near and long term), and three of them are about Trump and how unhinged he is becoming (advance apologies). But I promise, the final story on Trump carries some positive news.

The Status Kuo
I see that Sen. Tommy Tuberville has put out a generic statement about military veterans. Has he no shame? He must end the blockade and let the hundreds of stalled promotions go forward. He is harming our military readiness, all to score political points. And his staffers, some of whom are Bannonites, are gleeful about it. It appears they want the military badly weakened so that Trump can come back in and bend it to his corrupt will.
'Moms For Liberty' Report Florida School Librarians To Cops For Letting Teen Check Out YA Novel

These people need to be stopped.

Comic Sands

"But I ask you this: If we abandon the core principles of the United States to appease an aggressor, can any state in this body feel that they are protected? If we allow Ukraine to be carved up, is the independence of any nation secure?

I respectfully suggest the answer is ‘no.’ We have to stand up to this naked aggression today, and deter other would-be aggressors tomorrow.

That’s why the U.S. together with our allies and partners around the world will continue to stand with the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and territorial integrity and their freedom.”

If you’re going to interview Donald Trump, you had better be prepared to fact check him in real time. Our media does a terrible job of allowing him to spew falsehoods and spread conspiracies without calling him out on them. This is not the time to platform Trump like he is some regular politician. He is an existential threat to our democracy, including to institutions such as the free press. Do better.

First of all, Biden addressed this question in the negative just the day before, and had addressed it similarly in July. Do your research.

Second, what kind of unprofessional jerk shouts a question like that while the president is visiting the graves of his family members? Our politics and our media needs to relearn respect and courtesy. No one should be cruel or callous just for attention.
/end

The Big Three automakers taking tens of billions in auto bailouts fully funded by taxpayers—and now refusing to share the resulting record profits with workers—is the epitome of what's wrong with our economy.

Socialism for the wealthy. Rugged individualism for workers. Absurd.

As Jim Jordan tries to inserts his committee improperly into state prosecutions once again, a reminder of why he is even in Congress in the first place. This is his district in Ohio. One of the most gerrymandered in the nation.

"To this day, the cumulative per capita death rates from #COVID19 in countries that embraced the face coverings, such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, are a sixth of Anglo-Saxon countries like the US and UK that balked at community masking."

https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/it-s-aerosol-stupid-the-professor-who-challenged-medical-chiefs-20230814-p5dw8p

Mary-Louise McLaws has died at 70

Mary-Louise McLaws, who passed away at the weekend, stood firm against Australia’s conservative medical profession, arguing the official COVID-19 pandemic response was missing the key driver of infection.

Australian Financial Review

OTD, Aug 28, 1955, white supremacists kidnapped, tortured, & murdered 14-year-old Emmett Till. Carolyn Bryant—the woman who knowingly falsely accused him—just passed. The warrant for her arrest ignored, she lived free.

Emmett isn't ancient history—he's contemporary reality.