Friday Open Thread

24 thoughts on “Friday Open Thread”

1. Nikki Glaser POL roast https://youtu.be/bFzt9DU_lm0

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2. Libertarian Debt Relief. From Twitter:

   • Will Wilkinson: “It kills me every time I think about the fact that the first known written symbol for "freedom," the Sumerian ama-gi, which libertarians around the world have tattooed on themselves, actually means "debt relief." I love it so much…

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   1. SQUIRREL!!  🐿 ——>>>
      

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      1. Dark Brandon highlighted at TPM!

         There is a whole string of these Republican politicians who have received $500k – $1M in PPP debt forgiveness. They are so outraged they are trying to respond. 

         “President Biden’s student debt forgiveness plan could not be more different, despite his lame attempts to draw similarities between the two,” Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) wrote in an op-ed on Fox Business’ website, explaining his past support of PPP. 

         “This is a handout that primarily benefits the highly educated and already well-off, the laptop liberals and Marxist misfit activists who have never run a business, made payroll, or worried about something other than what pronouns to use,” he added.  

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         1. I really want Val Demings to rid us of Rubio. 

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            1. I've sent three contributions to Val, the latest yesterday.

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         2. 

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3. I knew modern conservativism didn't start with the Reagan presidency, but never knew of the Powell Memo from 1971. Written by Lewis Powell, a Nixon appointee to SCOTUS, he laid out a blueprint directed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for basically a corporate takeover of American society.

   So, how did the good ol' University of Colorado wind up with John Eastman? You might find the trailhead in the memo:

   The Chamber should insist upon equal time on the college speaking circuit…This would mean the urging of the need for faculty balance upon university administrators and boards of trustees. This is a long road and not one for the fainthearted. But if pursued with integrity and conviction it could lead to a strengthening of both academic freedom on the campus and of the values which have made America the most productive of all societies.

   There's a nice little outline about the memo in LA Progressive. Learn something new every day!

    

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4. student loans — saw this amazing tweet about Colorado:

   Charlotte Alter

   Aug 24, 2022@CharlotteAlter

   GenX/millennials/GenZ are carrying the financial burden for educational costs that the state carried for earlier generations. In Colorado, state funding for education dropped 70% btwn 1980-2011.

   CPR offered an estimate that brought things up to 2018: 

   In 2000, Colorado taxpayers footed 68 percent of the costs of a college degree, with students chipping in about one-third.

   Two decades and two recessions later, that ratio has nearly flipped as state funding has been cut and tuition has steadily risen to replace it…. In Colorado, tuition today covers 65 percent of college costs.

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5. https://www.kjct8.com/2022/08/25/mesa-county-clerk-recorder-tina-peters-is-suing-every-other-clerk-recorder-state/

   Mesa County Clerk & Recorder Tina Peters is suing every other clerk & recorder in the state

   Demands include that future recounts be done on taxpayer dollars and that she be provided a refund for her previous recounts

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   1. Hmmm…. seems to me that county clerks are pretty much limited to acting on the laws and regulations from the state of Colorado.

      Hope any lawyer with a name on this gets publicized and has an opportunity to explain WHY he or she was willing to cooperate in submitting this to the court system.

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   2. Sounds like a prelude to mounting an insanity defense when she finally comes to trial.

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   3. Goddamn wingnuts, always demanding free stuff.

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6. Hope the judge throws out this frivolous lawsuit

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   1. And makes her pay all the legal and administrative costs incurred by the counties to respond to this frivolous lawsuit.  What a loser.

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   2. Tried without success to find a copy of the complaint online, and I'm certainly not paying to get it through PACER or the Colorado Courts E-filing System (the article doesn't say whether the case was brought in state court or federal court). If the article is accurate, the complaint is likely a shitapalooza of epic proportions. I'd also be interested in which wingnut lolyer drafted and filed it.

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      1. Another Genghis ism! 10 for “wingnut lolyer”!

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   3. Here is Peter's attorney.  Hope he has some reserves in his operating account.  https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-armer/

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7. Can you spot our favorite trolls in this guide?

   

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   1. I have a big problem with that graphic. It implies that most trolls are angry cranks. In fact I think most trolls are robots and troll-farms funded by Russia or else ideological partisans engaged in agit-propaganda.

      In fact most trolls are intentional and strategic.

      I mean, I have a MAGA canary-in-the-coal-mine on my facebook feed who I KNOW is a real person. She spews the most vile Bannon or TPUSA crap you can imagine. She isn't an angry crank, she's an anti-libtard culture warrior. Same with Boebert or Empty-G. They don't care about truth, they are just trying to get name recognition and to create chaos and confusion.

      The other category of trolls is the group who use trolling as a fear and punishment strategy. I'm thinking of the incels who attack women on in-line forums, or post threats on twitter. 

      What kind of troll is Donald Trump? I wouldn't put him in any of those categories.

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      1. I don’t know if “most trolls” today are

         robots and troll-farms funded by Russia or else ideological partisans engaged in agit-propaganda

         On Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube comments, that may be true. There is a dreary sameness to their ranting and knee-jerk anti-Democrat reactions. 

         But on this forum, the trolls are mostly real people who fit one of the caricatures above. 

         They are indeed intentional and strategic- Negev wants to distract from news that accurately portrays Republicans and gun head absurdities; Pear wants to save our souls ( and his tax dollars); Moderatus wants to boost whatever GOP candidate has even a prayer of winning, and sneer at Pols while using its platform.
          

         As far as The Former Guy, he is a Money Troll, which I don’t see in the cartoon. It’s always, always about squeezing donations from his true believers.

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         1. Yep, Moddy the Crazed Crusader, Negev the Nabob, and Pear the Maven. 

            We do get the occasional Russian troll (usually posting around breakfast time in Bulgaria), who disappear as quickly as they come.

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8. Denver needs to have something like the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. D.C. & San Francisco have similar groups.

   Granted we have the World Affairs Conference. But it would be good to have something that brought world class presentations on current events and history here the other 51 weeks of the year.

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9. Today’s HRC update – MyKevin isn’t happy:

   August 25, 2021 (Wednesday)

   Today the U.S. House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol asked eight federal agencies for records. The chair of the committee, Representative Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), gave the agencies two weeks to produce a sweeping range of material that showed the committee is conducting a thorough investigation of the last days of the Trump administration.

   Thompson sent letters to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which keeps the records for the government; the Defense Department; the Department of Homeland Security; the Interior Department; the Department of Justice; the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); the National Counterterrorism Center; and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

   While the House had previously asked the National Archives for all the records it had covering the events and federal actors involved in the events of January 6 itself, the select committee is using a much wider lens. It has asked the departments not just for records covering January 6, but also for those reaching back as far as April 1, 2020, to see if the Trump administration had plans to contest and ultimately, should he lose, overturn the election. 

   The committee has asked the departments for any records about plans to derail the electoral count, organize violent rallies, declare martial law, or use the government positions to overturn the election results. It has also asked for any “documents and communications” about foreign influence in the 2020 election through social media and misinformation. 

   And then there was this tidbit. The last items the committee asked NARA to produce were: “All documents and communications related to the January 3, 2021, letter from 10 former Defense Secretaries warning of use of the military in election disputes.” 

   That letter, which was published in the Washington Post and signed by all ten of the living former defense secretaries, warned that “[e]fforts to involve the U.S. armed forces in resolving election disputes would take us into dangerous, unlawful and unconstitutional territory. Civilian and military officials who direct or carry out such measures would be accountable, including potentially facing criminal penalties, for the grave consequences of their actions on our republic.” The letter reminded then–acting defense secretary Christopher C. Miller and his subordinates that they were “each bound by oath, law and precedent to facilitate the entry into office of the incoming administration, and to do so wholeheartedly. They must also refrain from any political actions that undermine the results of the election or hinder the success of the new team.”

   It was an extraordinary letter, and its authors thought it was important enough to write it over the holidays, for publication three days before the January 6 electoral count. The driving force behind the letter was former vice president Dick Cheney. 

   Cheney’s daughter Liz Cheney (R-WY) sits on the House select committee. 

   Trump has threatened to invoke executive privilege to stop the release of the documents. 

   House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said the committee’s action proved it is not looking for truth but rather is engaging in politics. The committee asked NARA for records of communications between the president and “any Member of Congress or congressional staff.” This will sweep in McCarthy, who had a heated conversation with Trump on the phone as rioters invaded the Capitol. “They come for members of Congress, they are coming for everybody,” he said.

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