False patriotism, sacrificing lives in endless wars

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Friday February 05, 2021 · 12:08 PM PST

2021/02/05 · 12:08

From a couple of soldiers (www.usatoday.com/...):

Our country’s military is continually misused, and no amount of pyrotechnics, flag-waving, priority airline boarding, discount nachos, bumper stickers, or military flyovers can fix that. For over 19 years, the U.S. government knowingly sent its service members to self-perpetuating and self-defeating wars.

That’s not patriotism — that’s betrayal.

What they’d like to see:

A more effective alternative to such lobotomized patriotism — and a better way to honor veteran’s service — is to get informed about how the troops are used, and to dissent whenever the military is not used wisely.

Congressional staffers urge Senate to convict Trump

xysrl

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Wednesday February 03, 2021 · 9:03 AM PST

2021/02/03 · 09:03

www.cnn.com/…

Hundreds of congressional staffers wrote an open letter to senators urging them to consider the trauma aides experienced during the deadly insurrection at the US Capitol and to convict former President Donald Trump "for our sake, and the sake of the country."

Later in letter they mention the trauma, and the repeating re-stimulation of that trauma:

And it's not just staffers who work at the Capitol who were traumatized by what happened. And I think that is a piece of it. The trauma is there; the trauma is very real. And anytime that new pieces of information come out, you know, you're kind of re-traumatized.

Which is also AOC’s observation: www.usatoday.com/…

when we go through trauma, trauma compounds on each other

Here’s hoping the message gets through to the GQP Senators. But then, abusers don’t care how victims feel, so I’m not holding my breath.

Warren To Join Senate Finance Committee, Immediately Introduce Wealth Tax Bill

xysrl

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Tuesday February 02, 2021 · 5:00 PM PST

2021/02/02 · 17:00

www.huffpost.com/…

Elizabeth Warren joins Senate finance committee, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) will chair the committee.

Her first order of business is to enact Wealth Tax.

If passed, her bill would levy a two-cent tax on every dollar of individual wealth over $50 million, with an additional tax on every dollar over $1 billion.

My first order of business on the @SenateFinance Committee – the committee that leads tax and revenue policy in the Senate – will be to introduce legislation for a #WealthTax on fortunes above $50 million. It is time to make the ultra-rich pay their fair share. pic.twitter.com/IccP6do57y
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) February 2, 2021

Pentagon purging itself of Trumpies

xysrl

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Tuesday February 02, 2021 · 2:30 PM PST

2021/02/02 · 14:30

Sure don’t need seditionists in our military ranks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has ordered hundreds of Pentagon advisory board members to resign this month as part of a broad review of the panels, essentially purging several dozen last-minute appointments under the Trump administration.

apnews.com/...

Who shouldn't get stimulus checks? (w/poll)

xysrl

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Sunday January 24, 2021 · 8:55 PM PST

2021/01/24 · 20:55

Senators push back on stimulus payments: www.politico.com/…

The senators told the White House officials they support spending more on vaccine distribution but some balked at the stimulus payments, urging the White House to make them targeted toward those in greater need, according to sources on the call. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) pressed the Biden officials on why families making $300,000 would be eligible and urged a focus on lower-income workers.

Fair point. Cut it in half to $150,000? Or down to $100,000? Or…?

Is there an income level that would give another full $2400 stimulus payment to families, without overrunning the currently allocated funds?

Poll

557 votes Show Results

What should family income level be at or under to qualify for stimulus payments?

557 votes Vote Now!

What should family income level be at or under to qualify for stimulus payments?

$300,000

30 votes

$200,000

39 votes

$150,000

127 votes

$100,000

163 votes

$75,000

142 votes

Other?

56 votes

Report on 2020 Election, from National Task Force on Election Crises

xysrl

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Friday January 15, 2021 · 6:21 AM PST

2021/01/15 · 06:21

Got this from Facebook post by Alexandra Chandler, who works on the task force. It’s a 32-page report on the 2020 Election by www.electiontaskforce.org

The report (PDF), with analyses and recommendations: static1.squarespace.com/...

Way to go, Maryland

xysrl

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Wednesday January 13, 2021 · 4:22 PM PST

2021/01/13 · 16:22

Maryland is first state (to my knowledge) to implement honest and fair congressional districting:

www.cnn.com/…

Gov. Larry Hogan of neighboring Maryland did something extremely important in beginning the long process of unwinding our current political polarization.

The Republican governor announced that via executive order he had created an independent commission he will task with redrawing the state's congressional and legislative lines following the decennial reapportionment later this year. Known as the Maryland Citizens Redistricting Commission, the nine-person group will include three Democrats, three Republicans and three independents.

I’ve been unable to find the link, but I believe there was a diary here that described just how one could configure a bunch of red & blue boxes in a grid, representing a city’s geographical boundaries, into groups such that you would have one plan that gave “fair” representation and would result in, say, 3 Democratic Reps and 3 Republican Reps, while another plan would result in 2 Dems and 4 Repubs.

Actually, the coup succeeded

xysrl

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Tuesday January 12, 2021 · 5:12 AM PST

2021/01/12 · 05:12

The House will certainly impeach Trump.

The Senate will acquit. Of the 52 Republican Senators, at least 19 would have to vote for conviction.

Ain’t gonna happen.

So Trump is safe. Taxpayers will support him in comfort for the rest of his life

Meanwhile, we have 8 Senators who have already openly committed treason. Many, many more supported the treason, but turned chickenshit when it came time to cast their vote.

Similar story in the House.

Congress has so many traitors that they are self-protecting.

America no longer has a functioning legislative body accountable to the people.

The executive branch does not have enough power to fix our broken democracy. I doubt it has enough power to even survive the next 4 years, at least in the eyes of the American people.

Ironically, the Republican-packed Supreme Court is irrelevant.

The Jan 6, 2021 coup succeeded. Everything that follows is merely the death throes of democracy.

I truly hope I’m totally wrong, but I fear I’m not.

A good start to fix America

xysrl

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Wednesday November 16, 2016 · 5:26 PM PST

2016/11/16 · 17:26

Wealth Inequality:

Effective with 2016 Income, no deductions of any kind are allowed for any taxpayer. All taxes are based purely upon gross income.

Then,

1. single filers whose gross income is $100,000 or less ($200,000 for joint filers), are to be refunded ALL federal taxes paid.

2. single filers whose gross income is $100,001 to $1,000,000 ($200,001 to 2,000,000 for joint filers), federal taxes are to be levied at current rates.

3. single filers whose gross income is $1,000,001 or more ($2,000,001 or more if filing jointly), federal taxes shall be levied at current rates, plus additional percentage required to cover the federal taxes returned to citizens in 1) above.

These taxes are to remain in effect for the next 30 years.

Oligarchy:

Immediately draw up 27th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that overturns the U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Citizens United, and prevents any political contributions, of any kind, by any organization or corporation, now and forever.

No political advertising is allowed in any media channel, neither by the candidate nor by any supporting individual or group.

Individual persons may contribute up to $2000 to any given political candidate, but limited to candidates running for office or serving in the same state as the contributor.

Term Limits:

Immediately draw up 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution with the following changes:

1. Senate terms are reduced to 4 years, and an individual is limited to 2 terms total.

2. Representative terms are increased to 4 years, and an individual is limited to 2 terms.

3. A person can serve as a Representative and then a Senator, but a Senator may not subsequently serve as a Representative.

Security in Trump America

xysrl

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Tuesday November 15, 2016 · 11:34 AM PST

2016/11/15 · 11:34

I’ve lost the link, but there was a recent news story about veteran security folks in the CIA, FBI and/or Homeland security tendering their resignations because they cannot tolerate being party to what Trump is going to bring to America.

Makes me wonder what security and espionage are going to look like in the coming decade.

Will current staff leave backdoor into government computer systems so they can monitor and try to mitigate security disasters? Is it possible to run such a shadow net without vastly increasing the risk of exposing America’s secrets to hackers?

Heck, just how secure will our information be under a Trump/GOP regime?

And, gulp, in what ways and to what degrees will problems with our security spill over and trigger military action?

What's not to understand?

xysrl

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Sunday November 13, 2016 · 4:59 PM PST

2016/11/13 · 16:59

I am non-affiliated, but usually register Dem so I have a voice in the primaries. I've never voted Republican, but I've never been enamored of the Democratic Party either, particularly since 1984 when, to my mind, they became Republican themselves.

How can I possibly equate the Dems with the GOP, you ask? To quote one of Louis L'Amour's characters: "If I take a man's money, I ride for the brand." Well, the Dems threw their lot in with corporate America that year and have fed there ever since.

So, two parties, neither of which work for working stiffs like me. One party pretends to be for us, but the words are hollow and false when measured against the decline of "the American Dream." Seems a lot of Americans felt the same, and the ranks of Indie voters grew and grew until they outnumbered the membership of the establishment parties.

Along comes a complete political outsider who makes it to the general election. Americans have never seen one of those in my lifetime.

The GOP went berserk when he won their nomination. "The Party is broken!"

The Dems went berserk when he won the presidency. "The Party is broken!"

Neither is "broken" - they are exactly what they are, and have been, for decades.

What's different is, Americans didn't have have to pick between them.

I was not surprised at the result.

"But he's so horrible!"

Like we haven't heard that before, either?

America's political parties aren't broken. They are what they are.

To me, that just means deaf and uncaring.

Too bad history put a person like Trump in that moment.

Too bad that moment was ever allowed to happen.

Obama going on campaign trail for Clinton

xysrl

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Thursday March 17, 2016 · 12:00 PM PDT

2016/03/17 · 12:00

Now Sanders is running against Clinton AND OBAMA?

www.nytimes.com/...

www.washingtonpost.com/...

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