A once-in-a-century pandemic cannot be the only thing that slows mass shootings in this country. It’s time for leaders everywhere to listen to the American people when they say enough is enough. pic.twitter.com/7MEJ87Is3E
This is another critical issue which should have wide bipartisan support, especially now that the dirty Russian-money laundering NRA has been shown to be so corrupt. It will take changing the filibuster to get it done.
Bring on the 51st state:
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to Joy Reid following House Oversight and Reform Committee debate.
“Mayor Bowser, who testified at the hearing, called Republican attacks against statehood ‘stupid’:
“They show that they have run out of and we have debunked
all of the arguments they have used against us.”
(https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/mayor-bowser-makes-the-case-for-d-c-statehood-108990533797)
“Boston’s Mayor Kim Janey Draws Insight From Racist Chapter In City’s History”
“Mayor Kim Janey, in her first national interview as the mayor of Boston, talks with Rachel Maddow about how living through the racist backlash against the city’s school desegregation program in the 1970s shapes her perspective and her plans in her new role.”
Today, President Biden announced a new vaccination goal: 200 million shots in his first 100 days in office.
Our Administration is committed to getting America vaccinated as quickly as possible so we can finally turn the page on COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/SPNVWch1hC
Biden sets a goal of administering 200 million Covid-19 vaccine doses by the end of April, doubling his target for his first 100 days in office https://t.co/aVEd1anWMW
Vice President Harris accurately described AR-15s as “weapons of war.”
(Grassley said that he wouldn’t be able to protect himself without an AR-15. Yes he really said that.)
Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO)
Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, speaks to Joy Reid:
Reid: “What other purpose is there for an AR-15 other than killing people?”
Congressman Crow:
“There isn’t Joy. That’s the bottom line here.
There just isn’t. You know, I come at this from a perspective of somebody that was raised a hunter. I started hunting when I was twelve. I’ve been a gun owner most of my life. I became an Army Ranger. I went to a war three times for this country. I’ve used deer hunting rifles, duck hunting rifles, and I’ve used military assault rifles at war, and I’ve had them used against me. There is a reason why I didn’t take my deer hunting rifle to Baghdad and Afghanistan. And there’s a reason why I didn’t take my military assault rifle into the woods to deer hunt.
They are vastly different weapons to do vastly different things.”
Congressman Crow:
“These are assault weapons were designed to do one thing. Kill lots of people as quickly as possible.
And they are horrifically efficient at doing that. They don’t belong in our streets, in our schools, in our movie theaters, in our mosques, in our synagogues. I represent a community that has seen more than its share of these horrific mass shootings and it’s got to stop.”
Congressman Crow:
“When you use guns for political stunts or political theater it results in people getting hurt and killed.”
Congressman Crow:
“So you know that’s the bottom line. But it really traces back to what this ix about.
This is about raising money and making money for these folks, right? The gun lobby, gun manufacturers, have decided to concoct this argument about personal freedom, about protecting your home, and defending against tyranny, which it never was about by the way. And this is a new thing, right?
So they’ve concocted this. Some politicians have decided to try to raise money, to jump on the bandwagon. And here we are, we have a crisis and we can resolve it.”
“It’s sick.” @POTUS Biden on the provision in Georgia bills that would criminalize providing water and food to voters standing in line. #BidenPressConference
I like 2021 because I can write the sentence: "The Second Gentleman is hosting a Passover Seder at the White House tonight and his wife, the Vice President is scheduled to attend."
Over 100 million checks have been delivered to the American people. That's 100 million checks to pay rent. 100 million checks to make the mortgage. 100 million checks to put food on the table. 100 million checks to pay the bills. That's 100 million checks to get through COVID.
The passage of SB 202 is deeply disappointing. This divisive bill is unnecessary and is designed to suppress voter turnout in communities of color and other minority groups. It is shameless to change the rules of the game simply because you lost.
Still trying to comprehend why the WH press corps asked whether he’s running for re-election yet zero questions about COVID and no follow-ups on gun control. WTF.
I stand with Georgia State Rep. Park Cannon (@Cannonfor58), who was arrested and CHARGED WITH A FELONY for … for what?
For *knocking on Gov. Kemp’s office door* as she tried to observe the cowardly closed-door signing ceremony for the voter suppression law. pic.twitter.com/hpp6ZQxo2r
the LAPD just detained @JamesQueallyLAT, who recently reported on LAPD targeting journalists for arrest for failure to disperse by covering LAPD use of force and then tweeted this https://t.co/XIxo2ZqucB
BREAKING: Dominion Voting Systems has filed a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News, arguing the cable news giant falsely claimed in an effort to boost faltering ratings that the voting company rigged the 2020 election. https://t.co/t0zgR6Ik2N
Georgia Republicans just ignited the voter suppsession fight. This isn't going to go the way Republicans think. They underestimated black voters in 2020 and they're doing it again here. https://t.co/lMtMnkEAgc
— V'Shawn From Westview,NJ (@Kennymack1971) March 25, 2021
Here is the link from Glenn Kirschner for the letter to all 50 (and DC) state AG’s, asking for investigation into Covid19 deaths which may have been avoided if the last guy had half a brain cell, or a functioning heart.
Anyway, Glenn is ready to submit, they have been gathering signatories, I hope in the hundreds of thousands 🕊🙏🏼🕊
President Biden
White House Press Conference:
(excerpts)
“Now, today I’m setting a second goal and that is,
we will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in people’s arms.
…a recent Department of Education survey shows that nearly half of the K through Eight schools are open now full-time, five days a week for in-person learning
…As, of yesterday, more than 100 million payments of $1,400 have gone into people’s bank accounts.
…And just this morning, we learned that the number of people filing for weekly unemployment insurance fell by nearly 100,000 persons. This is the first time in a year the number’s fallen below the pre-pandemic high…”
“But the fundamental problem is getting people some peace of mind so they can go to bed at night
and not stare at the ceiling, wondering where they lost their health insurance, whether they’re going to lose some family member, whether they’re going to be in a position where they’re going to lose their home, because they can’t pay their mortgage, or the millions of people who are going to get thrown out of their homes because of the inability to pay the rent. So we’re going to move on these one at a time, try to do as many simultaneously as we can, but that’s the reason why I focused as I have.”
“As many people came, a 28% increase in children to the border in my administration,
31% in the last year, in 2019, before the pandemic in the Trump administration.
It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year….
And by the way, does anybody suggest that there was a 31% increase under Trump because he was a nice guy and he was doing good things at the border? That’s not the reason they’re coming…
So we’re building back up the capacity that should have been maintained and built upon that Trump dismantled. It’s going to take time…
Well, look, the idea that I’m going to say, which I would never do, if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we’re just going to let them starve to death and stay on the other side, no previous administrations did either, except Trump. I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it. That’s why I’ve asked the Vice President of United States yesterday to be the lead person on dealing with focusing on the fundamental reasons why people leave Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador in the first place…
That mother did not sit around on the kitchen table and say, “I got a great idea.
The way I’m going to make sure my son gets taken care of is I’m going to put a…I’m going to send him on a thousand mile journey across the desert and up to the United States, because I know Joe Biden’s a nice guy and he’ll take care of him.” What a desperate act to have to take. The circumstances must be horrible. So we can do something about that.
I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity.”
“What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick. It’s sick.
Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote,
deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work, deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances, it’s all designed, and I’m going to spend my time doing three things. One, trying to figure out how to pass the legislation passed by the House, number one, number two, educating the American public. The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters, the folks outside this White House. I’m not talking about the elected officials. I’m talking about voters.”
Q: “Regarding the filibuster, at John Lewis’ funeral,
President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?”
President Biden: “Yes.”
“…if you’re a husband and wife, a school teacher and a cop, you’re paying at a higher rate than the average person making a billion dollars a year is. Something’s wrong.”
“Look, I predict to you, your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded autocracy or democracy, because that is what is at stake, not just with China, look around the world. We’re in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution of enormous consequence.
Will there be middle class? How will people adjust to these significant changes in science and technology? The environment? How will they do that? And our democracy is equipped because all the people get to speak, to compete. It is clear, absolutely clear. And most of the scholars I dealt with at Penn agree with me around the country, that this is a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies. If you notice, you don’t have Russia talking about communism anymore, it’s about an autocracy. Demand decisions made by a leader of a country. That’s what’s at stake here.
We’ve got to prove democracy works.”
Seasonal reality = higher numbers of migrants come to the U.S. border during the winter months.
“Which is seasonally forgotten every year by the press corps.” (O’Donnell)
“Republicans Aim to Seize More Power Over How Elections Are Run”
“G.O.P. lawmakers in at least eight states controlled by the party are trying to gain broad influence over the mechanics of voting, in an effort that could further undermine the country’s democratic norms.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/republicans-election-laws.html)
“G.O.P. and Allies Draft ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting”
“As Republican legislatures seek to usher in a raft of new voting restrictions, they are being prodded by an array
of party leaders and outside groups working to coordinate the efforts.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/politics/republican-voter-laws.html)
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a massive new voting law that places restrictions on absentee voting and reduces the number of absentee drop-boxes, as well as making it a crime to pass out food or drinks to voters waiting in line. https://t.co/KSF6W2Q55p
Aaron Van Langevelde…
“How One Man Stood Up To Trump And Saved Democracy For Michigan”
“Maddow looks back on how close Donald Trump and his supporting Republicans came to subverting democracy in Michigan in 2020 but for one man, Aaron Van Langevelde,
Republican vice chair of the Michigan State Board of Canvassers, who sided with the rule of law instead.”
“Aaron Van Langevelde Has More Spine Than the Entire Republican Caucus in Congress”
“The Republican on the Michigan Board of Canvassers bucked the crazy and voted to certify Joe Biden’s clear win in that state.” (Pierce, Esquire, Nov 23, 2020)
Nov election came down to principled officials. It could have ended differently, like utter disaster if we don’t pass HR1 and HR4. My understanding is that following Kemp’s SB 202, Mr. Van Langevelde is out.
–Thanks a bazillion Mr. Van Langevelde on behalf of U.S. democracy.
…meaning as in the plan to remove gop critics…
“Republican Party moves to replace GOP board member who voted to certify Michigan election”
(freep.com, Jan 18))
“Georgia Republicans Concentrate Control Over How Elections Are Run”
“Ari Berman, senior reporter for Mother Jones,
talks with Maddow about how the most nefarious part of the new Republican election law in Georgia
is the way it entrenches the state legislature’s power over every aspect of how the state’s elections are run.”
GA SB 202: A two-page bill was turned into a nearly 100-page bill and passed in one day.
“It just goes to show that voter suppression in Georgia and voter suppression nationally is now the central organizing principle of the republican party.” (Berman)
Ari Berman:
“There are more sections of this voter suppression bill that entrench the republican party and the state legislature’s power over Election Administration than any other part of the bill.
So a lot of things got the headlines…when the real purpose here was to intensify control over how every aspect of elections are run in Georgia. So when there are close elections in the future, which they know there will be, they will have unprecedented power to challenge the election results.
And to decline to certify them if they don’t like who the winner is.”
Marc Elias,
Democratic elections attorney, co-founder of Democracy Docket:
“And so the role of the courts are to protect fundamental rights when politicians fail them. And right now republican politicians around the country are failing voters and failing democracy. And we have to turn to the courts.”
Elias:
“One of the things that I most worry about Rachel is that some of the successes that I and others had last year, may have caused people to think ‘Oh no big deal republicans do crazy things, we go to court, court wins…’
We can’t count on that.
The fact is Congress needs to fix this.
Congress needs to put in guardrails to protect our democracy.
And only Congress can do that.”
Elias:
“And so I implore every member of the Senate right now
to look and search in their heart whether or not they want to fight for our democracy. Because otherwise we’re going to keep seeing these attacks and we’re not going to beat the all in court.”
Yesterday:
“National Day of Remembrance honors those we have lost”
Thursday, March 25, 2021
by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Cherokee Nation
“March 18, 2020, was the day COVID-19 forever changed the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma.
It was the day we lost the first Oklahoman – a Cherokee Nation citizen, Merle Dry – to this deadly pandemic.
To mark this anniversary, Cherokee Nation recently hosted a National Day of Remembrance. This online vigil paid respect to Mr. Dry and the numerous other beloved Cherokee men and women we have lost to the virus in the past 12 months.
It has been a sad chapter in our history. We have lost hundreds of Cherokees to the pandemic, including more than 50 Cherokee first-language speaking elders. The casualties were our family, our friends, our coworkers and our fellow Cherokees. They were our culture keepers, our oral historians and our language propagators to the next generation.”
CHEROKEE NATION
“Cherokee Nation held a memorial tonight in Tahlequah to remember those Cherokees lost to #COVID19.
The memorial honored those lost w/ 107 candles (106 for Cherokees within it’s health system & one for Merle Dry), & five empty chairs for Cherokee Nation employees lost to the virus.”
"While it is true that roughly 22% of Blacks live in poverty, that means 78% do not. Why white people don’t focus on the 78% is a complicated question. Is it that they don’t know? That they don’t want to know?" https://t.co/RB7UOJkUrg
Black Theatre United – Stand for Change
(powerful music from my husband Norm Lewis and some of his theatre friends) ❤️
A timely reminder of why we must keep up the demand for voting rights. No change is possible if we are denied access to the process. Thank you, @BLKTheatreUnite.
From passage of the #SB202 voter suppression bill targeted at Black and brown voters to the arrest of a Black legislator who was advocating for the voting rights of her constituents, today was a reminder of Georgia’s dark past. We must fight for the future of our democracy #gapolpic.twitter.com/IZWZGAX9RT
As we recall the Passover story of overcoming adversity, finding hope, and becoming free, we find a renewed salience. This weekend, as Seders close with the familiar refrain, “Next year in Jerusalem,” we offer an additional prayer: Next year in person. Next year, together. pic.twitter.com/TBU2dXMPCQ
Spotted this comment about the video, on social media:
“It is like cool water in a dry desert … a gentle breeze on a too hot day … to have a President who expresses kindness and connection. It is still wondrous and may it always be so … “
The @SecondGentleman and I enjoyed participating in the White House's Virtual Passover Celebration. To Jewish families in the U.S., the State of Israel, and across the globe: Happy Passover. Next year in person! pic.twitter.com/0u72fERGaU
Biden took aim at Georgia GOP, suggesting they could face DOJ scrutiny for enacting an “outrageous” law with “Jim Crow”-like restrictions on Georgia voters
– restricting ballot access + voting hours – crime to offer food or water waiting in long lineshttps://t.co/XFehbYchXi
Am going frivolous, y’all! My nephew, my late brother’s youngest son is getting married. 💞 Before COVID we were up & down visiting each other. One of those visits, Auntie being Auntie: Boy, y’all been together long enough. You know & she knows y’all don’t brush yr teeth w/ yr underwear. What’s up? 😂
So, now am first up to give a speech at their wedding! No pressure, Auntie! They don’t know, but am creating their very special prose/poem for them. 😘💞
Then nephew sent me the band’s playlist. Had to ask if band was that good to carry Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie, etc. Great band, Auntie. Then he asked me for must-be songs on list! Had best time listening, dancing & choosing must-haves. Our Dudette came to my mind as choices were so wonderfully eclectic!
Hoping countries get their COVID shit together coz this wedding is overseas, & I’ll be there. If necessary, hazmat suit & all. Probably trying to figure dance steps in that suit! 😷😇😂
What a sweet and exciting story, Gazelle. Thank you for sharing with us. The more I read, the more I smiled. Good way to begin my Saturday.
Our granddaughter was to have her first softball game of the season today. Nope, not happening. Rain, rain, rain and thunder. Off and on all day. She got up while Mommy was at work and was totally dressed in her new uniform. She cried when Mommy told her it was cancelled.
TN! I so feel for yr granddaughter & missed softball game. It’s so tough on these kids. But, one day soon, we’ll be OK! If we can all, worldwide, come together, COVID will be under control. It has to be a concerted effort, not hodgepodge. 😷😇
We have to believe this will work out. We are planning to fly to China next March. Our son will be teaching there next year for one year. These special events we will work out to get there somehow.
Your are a very special auntie. This will be a time for memories.
FDA is warning consumers & health care professionals not to use Durisan Antimicrobial Solutions Alcohol-Free Hand Sanitizer due to microbial contamination: https://t.co/ezKjuhQZgppic.twitter.com/3eIjLuikNv
“Richard Lui shares lessons learned since becoming his father’s caregiver”
The longtime (MSNBC, NBC) journalist’s caregiving life off camera inspired his new book that’s part memoir and part self-help book.” (by Yi-Jin Yu)
“Lui grew up with his parents and three siblings in San Francisco, where his father worked as a pastor and later as a social worker for about 25 years. In his new book on selflessness,
“Enough About Me,” Lui describes how his mother was initially the primary caregiver for her husband when Alzheimer’s started taking hold. But after four years, Lui and his siblings realized the emotional and physical toll it was taking on their mother was too much. The family eventually decided to move their patriarch to a care facility.”
These days, Stephen Lui can’t talk, eat by mouth or walk.
“In the old days, meaning a year ago, when I would talk to him is when his eyes would perk open,” his son recalled.
In addition, Richard Lui said, “He can’t hear, so I put on some amplifier headphones on him and I would get the microphone. And I said, ‘OK, this is Richard, do you remember me? I’m your son? If so, blink once.’ And he goes, (blink). Craig, another one of those moments where I am just like, I don’t know what I was doing before or the last 10 years.”
Lui’s decision to care for his father has changed the way he lives his life — selflessly — something he hopes others can do, too. “We make a conscious decision about every 15 minutes. And if we can just once a day, ‘I’m going to go get lunch. I am going to call somebody.’ How do I add a selfless notion to that? So I would say, once a day, think of doing something a little different.”
Lui said his father is still fighting the good fight and he’ll remain at his side as long as it takes.”
“Enough About Me,” published by Zondervan, will be released Tuesday.
The Obama Diary 
Thanks for new thread, NW. It is a dreary, dreary day here. Rain, thunder and lightening.
This is another critical issue which should have wide bipartisan support, especially now that the dirty Russian-money laundering NRA has been shown to be so corrupt. It will take changing the filibuster to get it done.
Bring on the 51st state:
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser to Joy Reid following House Oversight and Reform Committee debate.
“Mayor Bowser, who testified at the hearing, called Republican attacks against statehood ‘stupid’:
“They show that they have run out of and we have debunked
all of the arguments they have used against us.”
(https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/mayor-bowser-makes-the-case-for-d-c-statehood-108990533797)
“Boston’s Mayor Kim Janey Draws Insight From Racist Chapter In City’s History”
“Mayor Kim Janey, in her first national interview as the mayor of Boston, talks with Rachel Maddow about how living through the racist backlash against the city’s school desegregation program in the 1970s shapes her perspective and her plans in her new role.”
President Biden Holds a Formal Press Conference.
(1:15 ET)
Just ended.
My word! Don’t miss a second of it.
President Biden is fully committed on every topic. And i love it !
I love it, too!
Awesomeness!
Getting it done for the American people!
Wooot!
Woohoo!!!
They don’t care.
You continue to stun me sir.
Jer44, thank you for always keeping us informed. You are a treasure!
Vice President Harris accurately described AR-15s as “weapons of war.”
(Grassley said that he wouldn’t be able to protect himself without an AR-15. Yes he really said that.)
Congressman Jason Crow (D-CO)
Vice Chair of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, speaks to Joy Reid:
Reid: “What other purpose is there for an AR-15 other than killing people?”
Congressman Crow:
“There isn’t Joy. That’s the bottom line here.
There just isn’t. You know, I come at this from a perspective of somebody that was raised a hunter. I started hunting when I was twelve. I’ve been a gun owner most of my life. I became an Army Ranger. I went to a war three times for this country. I’ve used deer hunting rifles, duck hunting rifles, and I’ve used military assault rifles at war, and I’ve had them used against me. There is a reason why I didn’t take my deer hunting rifle to Baghdad and Afghanistan. And there’s a reason why I didn’t take my military assault rifle into the woods to deer hunt.
They are vastly different weapons to do vastly different things.”
Congressman Crow:
“These are assault weapons were designed to do one thing. Kill lots of people as quickly as possible.
And they are horrifically efficient at doing that. They don’t belong in our streets, in our schools, in our movie theaters, in our mosques, in our synagogues. I represent a community that has seen more than its share of these horrific mass shootings and it’s got to stop.”
Congressman Crow:
“When you use guns for political stunts or political theater it results in people getting hurt and killed.”
Congressman Crow:
“So you know that’s the bottom line. But it really traces back to what this ix about.
This is about raising money and making money for these folks, right? The gun lobby, gun manufacturers, have decided to concoct this argument about personal freedom, about protecting your home, and defending against tyranny, which it never was about by the way. And this is a new thing, right?
So they’ve concocted this. Some politicians have decided to try to raise money, to jump on the bandwagon. And here we are, we have a crisis and we can resolve it.”
oh pkayden…rolling in your aisles again…what a scream.
😂
nasa.gov
“NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight”
(https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-ingenuity-mars-helicopter-prepares-for-first-flight)
“NASA Joins White House National Climate Task Force”
(https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-joins-white-house-national-climate-task-force)
Love to see it!
Aren’t they the cutest?
10 steps backwards to Jim Crow
No one hardly is putting the blame squarely on Chief Justice Robert’s that allowed the racist states to do this.
Pete’s at it, again. Love him.
Good Morning! How about some good news?
Hope they win big.
Indeed
but umpteen violent deadly white insurrectionists, domestic terroritsts, walked away.
Morning everyone, thank you NW, I’ve missed a lot
https://t.co/RUuW4Jggtz?amp=1
Here is the link from Glenn Kirschner for the letter to all 50 (and DC) state AG’s, asking for investigation into Covid19 deaths which may have been avoided if the last guy had half a brain cell, or a functioning heart.
Anyway, Glenn is ready to submit, they have been gathering signatories, I hope in the hundreds of thousands 🕊🙏🏼🕊
And I hope this link works!!
Big hugs all around, bbl.
President Biden
White House Press Conference:
(excerpts)
“Now, today I’m setting a second goal and that is,
we will, by my 100th day in office, have administered 200 million shots in people’s arms.
…a recent Department of Education survey shows that nearly half of the K through Eight schools are open now full-time, five days a week for in-person learning
…As, of yesterday, more than 100 million payments of $1,400 have gone into people’s bank accounts.
…And just this morning, we learned that the number of people filing for weekly unemployment insurance fell by nearly 100,000 persons. This is the first time in a year the number’s fallen below the pre-pandemic high…”
“But the fundamental problem is getting people some peace of mind so they can go to bed at night
and not stare at the ceiling, wondering where they lost their health insurance, whether they’re going to lose some family member, whether they’re going to be in a position where they’re going to lose their home, because they can’t pay their mortgage, or the millions of people who are going to get thrown out of their homes because of the inability to pay the rent. So we’re going to move on these one at a time, try to do as many simultaneously as we can, but that’s the reason why I focused as I have.”
“As many people came, a 28% increase in children to the border in my administration,
31% in the last year, in 2019, before the pandemic in the Trump administration.
It happens every single solitary year. There is a significant increase in the number of people coming to the border in the winter months of January, February, March. It happens every year….
And by the way, does anybody suggest that there was a 31% increase under Trump because he was a nice guy and he was doing good things at the border? That’s not the reason they’re coming…
So we’re building back up the capacity that should have been maintained and built upon that Trump dismantled. It’s going to take time…
Well, look, the idea that I’m going to say, which I would never do, if an unaccompanied child ends up at the border, we’re just going to let them starve to death and stay on the other side, no previous administrations did either, except Trump. I’m not going to do it. I’m not going to do it. That’s why I’ve asked the Vice President of United States yesterday to be the lead person on dealing with focusing on the fundamental reasons why people leave Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador in the first place…
That mother did not sit around on the kitchen table and say, “I got a great idea.
The way I’m going to make sure my son gets taken care of is I’m going to put a…I’m going to send him on a thousand mile journey across the desert and up to the United States, because I know Joe Biden’s a nice guy and he’ll take care of him.” What a desperate act to have to take. The circumstances must be horrible. So we can do something about that.
I make no apologies for ending programs that did not exist before Trump became president that have an incredibly negative impact on the law, international law, as well as on human dignity.”
“What I’m worried about is how un-American this whole initiative is. It’s sick. It’s sick.
Deciding in some states that you cannot bring water to people standing in line waiting to vote,
deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work, deciding that there will be no absentee ballots under the most rigid circumstances, it’s all designed, and I’m going to spend my time doing three things. One, trying to figure out how to pass the legislation passed by the House, number one, number two, educating the American public. The Republican voters I know find this despicable, Republican voters, the folks outside this White House. I’m not talking about the elected officials. I’m talking about voters.”
Q: “Regarding the filibuster, at John Lewis’ funeral,
President Barack Obama said he believed the filibuster was a relic of the Jim Crow era. Do you agree?”
President Biden: “Yes.”
“…if you’re a husband and wife, a school teacher and a cop, you’re paying at a higher rate than the average person making a billion dollars a year is. Something’s wrong.”
“Look, I predict to you, your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on the issue of who succeeded autocracy or democracy, because that is what is at stake, not just with China, look around the world. We’re in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution of enormous consequence.
Will there be middle class? How will people adjust to these significant changes in science and technology? The environment? How will they do that? And our democracy is equipped because all the people get to speak, to compete. It is clear, absolutely clear. And most of the scholars I dealt with at Penn agree with me around the country, that this is a battle between the utility of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies. If you notice, you don’t have Russia talking about communism anymore, it’s about an autocracy. Demand decisions made by a leader of a country. That’s what’s at stake here.
We’ve got to prove democracy works.”
Full: (https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/president-joe-biden-first-white-house-press-conference-transcript-march-25)
Seasonal reality = higher numbers of migrants come to the U.S. border during the winter months.
“Which is seasonally forgotten every year by the press corps.” (O’Donnell)
David Plouffe:
“But what’s happening in Georgia…
This is a death sentence for democracy if we see laws like this across the country.
They are taking power away from election officials. They are giving it to the state legislature.
They are also talking about that in Arizona. Which means if they don’t like the results of an election, they will overturn it.
If the Senate does not pass the For The People Act we should turn the lights off on this democracy.
I mean this seriously. This is the beginning of the end…the Senate has to act or we’re going down the tubes quickly in this country.
(ReidOut)
Download it:
Link to
text of GA Senate Bill 202:
(https://legiscan.com/GA/text/HB59/id/2234785)
– the direct link wouldn’t post.
“Republicans Aim to Seize More Power Over How Elections Are Run”
“G.O.P. lawmakers in at least eight states controlled by the party are trying to gain broad influence over the mechanics of voting, in an effort that could further undermine the country’s democratic norms.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/24/us/politics/republicans-election-laws.html)
“G.O.P. and Allies Draft ‘Best Practices’ for Restricting Voting”
“As Republican legislatures seek to usher in a raft of new voting restrictions, they are being prodded by an array
of party leaders and outside groups working to coordinate the efforts.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/23/us/politics/republican-voter-laws.html)
Aaron Van Langevelde…
“How One Man Stood Up To Trump And Saved Democracy For Michigan”
“Maddow looks back on how close Donald Trump and his supporting Republicans came to subverting democracy in Michigan in 2020 but for one man, Aaron Van Langevelde,
Republican vice chair of the Michigan State Board of Canvassers, who sided with the rule of law instead.”
“Aaron Van Langevelde Has More Spine Than the Entire Republican Caucus in Congress”
“The Republican on the Michigan Board of Canvassers bucked the crazy and voted to certify Joe Biden’s clear win in that state.” (Pierce, Esquire, Nov 23, 2020)
Nov election came down to principled officials. It could have ended differently, like utter disaster if we don’t pass HR1 and HR4. My understanding is that following Kemp’s SB 202, Mr. Van Langevelde is out.
–Thanks a bazillion Mr. Van Langevelde on behalf of U.S. democracy.
…meaning as in the plan to remove gop critics…
“Republican Party moves to replace GOP board member who voted to certify Michigan election”
(freep.com, Jan 18))
“Georgia Republicans Concentrate Control Over How Elections Are Run”
“Ari Berman, senior reporter for Mother Jones,
talks with Maddow about how the most nefarious part of the new Republican election law in Georgia
is the way it entrenches the state legislature’s power over every aspect of how the state’s elections are run.”
GA SB 202: A two-page bill was turned into a nearly 100-page bill and passed in one day.
“It just goes to show that voter suppression in Georgia and voter suppression nationally is now the central organizing principle of the republican party.” (Berman)
Ari Berman:
“There are more sections of this voter suppression bill that entrench the republican party and the state legislature’s power over Election Administration than any other part of the bill.
So a lot of things got the headlines…when the real purpose here was to intensify control over how every aspect of elections are run in Georgia. So when there are close elections in the future, which they know there will be, they will have unprecedented power to challenge the election results.
And to decline to certify them if they don’t like who the winner is.”
GA State of Secretary Raffensperger has been removed as the state head of the State Election Board
and removed as a voting member.
Marc Elias,
Democratic elections attorney, co-founder of Democracy Docket:
“And so the role of the courts are to protect fundamental rights when politicians fail them. And right now republican politicians around the country are failing voters and failing democracy. And we have to turn to the courts.”
Elias:
“One of the things that I most worry about Rachel is that some of the successes that I and others had last year, may have caused people to think ‘Oh no big deal republicans do crazy things, we go to court, court wins…’
We can’t count on that.
The fact is Congress needs to fix this.
Congress needs to put in guardrails to protect our democracy.
And only Congress can do that.”
Elias:
“And so I implore every member of the Senate right now
to look and search in their heart whether or not they want to fight for our democracy. Because otherwise we’re going to keep seeing these attacks and we’re not going to beat the all in court.”
fyi,
Information about antibody treatment for Covid-19 just won’t post.
This might explain why it is sitting on shelves instead of saving lives.
Yesterday:
“National Day of Remembrance honors those we have lost”
Thursday, March 25, 2021
by Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr.
Cherokee Nation
“March 18, 2020, was the day COVID-19 forever changed the Cherokee Nation and Oklahoma.
It was the day we lost the first Oklahoman – a Cherokee Nation citizen, Merle Dry – to this deadly pandemic.
To mark this anniversary, Cherokee Nation recently hosted a National Day of Remembrance. This online vigil paid respect to Mr. Dry and the numerous other beloved Cherokee men and women we have lost to the virus in the past 12 months.
It has been a sad chapter in our history. We have lost hundreds of Cherokees to the pandemic, including more than 50 Cherokee first-language speaking elders. The casualties were our family, our friends, our coworkers and our fellow Cherokees. They were our culture keepers, our oral historians and our language propagators to the next generation.”
CHEROKEE NATION
“Cherokee Nation held a memorial tonight in Tahlequah to remember those Cherokees lost to #COVID19.
The memorial honored those lost w/ 107 candles (106 for Cherokees within it’s health system & one for Merle Dry), & five empty chairs for Cherokee Nation employees lost to the virus.”
Chag Pesach sameach! Gut yontif!
And good friday to all!!
Is that pic of Cruz from Cancun?
No, at the southern border.
I was joking, but he shouldn’t have been at the southern border, either!
Black Theatre United – Stand for Change
(powerful music from my husband Norm Lewis and some of his theatre friends) ❤️
“Black Theatre United Releases New Music Video “Stand For Change””
(https://broadwaydirect.com/black-theatre-united-releases-new-music-video-stand-for-change/)
…
Good heavens Dudette – Norm Lewis is your husband?
Yes! One of my many (pretend) “husbands” 😁😉
heh…you missed the chance to cod me – I was there!!!
Nor are you pro life
Chef Andres is a national treasure.
Love him and everybody who works along side of him, for the betterment of others!
Spotted this comment about the video, on social media:
“It is like cool water in a dry desert … a gentle breeze on a too hot day … to have a President who expresses kindness and connection. It is still wondrous and may it always be so … “
they are so lovely, how fortunate we are.
Happy Passover!
Fast action! Bravi, a million thanks.
Am going frivolous, y’all! My nephew, my late brother’s youngest son is getting married. 💞 Before COVID we were up & down visiting each other. One of those visits, Auntie being Auntie: Boy, y’all been together long enough. You know & she knows y’all don’t brush yr teeth w/ yr underwear. What’s up? 😂
So, now am first up to give a speech at their wedding! No pressure, Auntie! They don’t know, but am creating their very special prose/poem for them. 😘💞
Then nephew sent me the band’s playlist. Had to ask if band was that good to carry Chaka Khan, Curtis Mayfield, Stevie, etc. Great band, Auntie. Then he asked me for must-be songs on list! Had best time listening, dancing & choosing must-haves. Our Dudette came to my mind as choices were so wonderfully eclectic!
Hoping countries get their COVID shit together coz this wedding is overseas, & I’ll be there. If necessary, hazmat suit & all. Probably trying to figure dance steps in that suit! 😷😇😂
What a sweet and exciting story, Gazelle. Thank you for sharing with us. The more I read, the more I smiled. Good way to begin my Saturday.
Our granddaughter was to have her first softball game of the season today. Nope, not happening. Rain, rain, rain and thunder. Off and on all day. She got up while Mommy was at work and was totally dressed in her new uniform. She cried when Mommy told her it was cancelled.
Good day to all.
TN! I so feel for yr granddaughter & missed softball game. It’s so tough on these kids. But, one day soon, we’ll be OK! If we can all, worldwide, come together, COVID will be under control. It has to be a concerted effort, not hodgepodge. 😷😇
We have to believe this will work out. We are planning to fly to China next March. Our son will be teaching there next year for one year. These special events we will work out to get there somehow.
Your are a very special auntie. This will be a time for memories.
MT! Am sending all that’s wonderful in the universe your way so you make that China trip! Woot!
I hope to catch up w/ loved ones on long overdue visits. Hope I can spend 3 months doing so. The question is COVID. 😠😷😷
Richard Lui joins the ReidOut to talk about new survey data out from AAPI Data:
“What they found is that Asian Americans are less likely to report hate crimes, they’re not comfortable with it. They’re worried that they may be attacked again.”
(https://www.msnbc.com/the-reidout/watch/survey-asian-americans-less-likely-to-report-hate-crimes-fear-they-may-be-attacked-again-109163589545)
“Richard Lui shares lessons learned since becoming his father’s caregiver”
The longtime (MSNBC, NBC) journalist’s caregiving life off camera inspired his new book that’s part memoir and part self-help book.” (by Yi-Jin Yu)
“Lui grew up with his parents and three siblings in San Francisco, where his father worked as a pastor and later as a social worker for about 25 years. In his new book on selflessness,
“Enough About Me,” Lui describes how his mother was initially the primary caregiver for her husband when Alzheimer’s started taking hold. But after four years, Lui and his siblings realized the emotional and physical toll it was taking on their mother was too much. The family eventually decided to move their patriarch to a care facility.”
These days, Stephen Lui can’t talk, eat by mouth or walk.
“In the old days, meaning a year ago, when I would talk to him is when his eyes would perk open,” his son recalled.
In addition, Richard Lui said, “He can’t hear, so I put on some amplifier headphones on him and I would get the microphone. And I said, ‘OK, this is Richard, do you remember me? I’m your son? If so, blink once.’ And he goes, (blink). Craig, another one of those moments where I am just like, I don’t know what I was doing before or the last 10 years.”
Lui’s decision to care for his father has changed the way he lives his life — selflessly — something he hopes others can do, too. “We make a conscious decision about every 15 minutes. And if we can just once a day, ‘I’m going to go get lunch. I am going to call somebody.’ How do I add a selfless notion to that? So I would say, once a day, think of doing something a little different.”
Lui said his father is still fighting the good fight and he’ll remain at his side as long as it takes.”
“Enough About Me,” published by Zondervan, will be released Tuesday.
(https://www.today.com/health/msnbc-anchor-richard-lui-caregiving-dad-alzheimer-s-t212192)
New post.