No one here is naïve; we are aware of the very bad stuff that is happening. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including ourselves) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. Because sometimes the good news, which can be incremental, gets lost in the deluge of the click-bait bad. Because we need to fortify ourselves before returning to the fight. Because we sometimes get ideas about how to fight while here. And also — because we’re a community 💙 ❤️ 💙 — we like to be here.
And, yes, these last few weeks have been pretty bad. But little of it is surprising, at least not surprising on what the bad guys are doing or are trying to do. What has been surprising is the outpouring on our side. We are furious with them for what they are doing and we are letting them know.
Remember:
💚 There are more of us than there are of them.
💛 They are terrified when we organize.
💔 They want us to be demoralized.
💙 The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world.
Note that there is more good news out there, but the sample here should remind you that lots of people are fighting and it does make a difference.
🍀 “My experience has been that work is almost always the best way to pull oneself out of the depths.” 🍀
Eleanor Roosevelt
Eleanor Roosevelt survived WWII by working her way through it. We ourselves are in a severe conflict that threatens the world. But the best way to get through it is to do something, anything, to fight the crap. Before we get to what you can do, let’s take a look at today’s good news.
💙 Russia, Russia, Russia 🐻
— and Other Toxic 🍄 Trump Matters
🍄 Russia State TV thinks that Trump is a Kremlin asset
In the aftermath of Trump’s disgraceful and humiliating performance at Monday’s summit with Vladimir Putin, Russian state media is openly mocking Trump for bashing America and acting “like an agent of the Kremlin.”
Even before the summit started, government-controlled media in Russia had already declared victory by virtue of the fact that the leader of the free world invited Putin to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him on the world stage, without demanding any concessions or preconditions.
The moment Trump showed up, Putin scored a major optics win.
One of those few times that I do believe the Russian-controlled media. Although not exactly good news, means that becoming more and more obvious, even to those who would not see.
💢 It appears that one way Trump is licking Putin’s 👢is by giving Russia Crimea (and lying to us about it).
A Seth Abramson tweet: BREAKING NEWS: If this Bloomberg report is accurate, Trump secretly agreed to consider giving Crimea to Putin via a sham "vote" (which would in effect be giving his blessing to a war crime) and then conspired with him to hide that agreement from America's voters and elected reps.
💣 “Bombshell report: Trump was told before he took office that Putin interfered in the election.”
All the way back on January 6, 2017, two weeks before Donald Trump even put his tiny hand on Lincoln’s Bible to take the Oath of Office, U.S. Intelligence services had a serious sit-down with the president-elect to show him highly classified intel that definitively proved Vladimir Putin had personally ordered the cyber attacks and propaganda campaign aimed at tilting the 2016 election to Donald Trump.
So, yes, he knew back in 2017. Of course he knew. He knew before he was told by our government, because Trump IS the traitor-in-chief. He is working for Russia and has been ever since at least before he attacked John McCain (the Russians hate McCain because of the Magnitsky Act). Everything needs to be understood in the context of Trump being an Russian asset.
But although most of us reading this roundup are not surprised, it’s good that it’s coming out.
☀️ FBI Director Wray — the guy appointed by Trump — contradicts Trump.
Aspen, Colorado — FBI Director Chris Wray pushed back against Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday night, and –– in a significant departure in tone from President Donald Trump –– unequivocally supported the U.S. intelligence community’s conclusion that Russia meddled in the 2016 election.
“He’s got his view, he’s expressed his view, and I’ll tell you what my view is: The intelligence community’s assessment has not changed, and my view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the last election,” Wray said in a question-and-answer session at the Aspen Security Forum. “They are engaged in foreign influence operations to this day.”
💛 A Republican who is not retiring has noticed that Trump is being manipulated by Putin, and actually wrote about it in the NY Times!
He wrings his hands and wonders what we should do — but doesn’t mention the obvious (support Mueller, clean up the GOP, elect Democrats, and stop doing stuff Trump wants). Still, this is a step in the correct direction.
🔨 Mueller’s filed a list of at least 435 items for the trial against Manafort, with the option to file more items if needed. And it’s more than 435 items, because the list includes items such as 70A, 70B and so on. And general ledgers — with how many entries? Email chains — with how much back and forth. The trial is supposed to begin July 25. In other words, before my next scheduled GNR!
🍄 UK police identify Russian agents who murdered a woman in the UK.
The Press Association is reporting that British anti-terrorist police have identified the Russians they believe are responsible for the nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal which resulted in the death of a third person with another still being in hospital. They are looking for more than one suspect.
🐊 Tales from the Swamp 🐊
🔱 Cuomo ready to OK criminal probe into Trump foundation 🔱 💰
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) signaled through his counsel Wednesday that he is ready and willing to okay a criminal investigation into the Trump Foundation, if state prosecutors want to take up the case alongside their ongoing civil lawsuit, according to a Wednesday CNN report.
“At Gov. Cuomo’s direction, the state stands ready to provide the Attorney General with the appropriate criminal referral on this matter if and when she asks for it,” the statement reads.
Trump Organization missed property-tax deadlines in five states. 💰
Trump’s company did not pay on time in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Illinois and California, according to the newspaper, which reported that records show the company missed a Nov. 30 deadline on taxes for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, two mansions and three golf courses.
The company’s property tax bill increased by $23,500 after missing the opportunity to claim a 4 percent discount, the newspaper noted.
Trump’s organization denies this, but we don’t believe them.
The only time I believe Trump is when he says what he wants for lunch. Because lying about that is too inconvenient.
😄 People working in the White House are as depressed 😭 as they were after Charlottesville. Gosh, it wasn’t nice to find out that your leader loves white supremacists neo Nazis. And it’s also unpleasant to discover that your leader is a Russian asset. And a liar, according to this WH stenographer (she quit in 2017).
💙 Democrats Are Great 🌊
Republicans 🐘 Got Nothing 👎
💛 Kansas Republican state senator loses leadership position after endorsing some Democrats. (including a guy named Niermann)
Kansas State Sen. Barbara Bollier (R) has been stripped of her leadership position by the Republican Senate president after she endorsed two Democrats. …
“She was removed from her leadership positions today for speaking truth to power,” Niermann said of Bollier. “Her removal is an example of politics as usual. Her countless acts of political courage are an example of politics as they should be.”
Bollier indicated to the Topeka newspaper that she is considering leaving the Republican Party.
Good for her, though. We’ve seen Republicans out of office changing parties, we have seen some Republicans scolding other Republicans. But this is a sign of something more. Of course, there’s a price for her.
But if she becomes a D and our side wins she’ll have more power.
💛 Rs out of power are beginning to support Ds — and to demand the end of some other Rs, such as McConnell.
🌽 Trump’s policies hurting American farmers
In the Trump administration’s trade war with China, American farmers are fast becoming the biggest losers. Despite the president’s recent assurances to the contrary, the administration’s reckless, self-serving policies will not level the playing field for our nation’s farmers. In fact, they are more likely to extinguish what’s left of family farm agriculture.
Farmers are enduring the worst cycle they’ve seen since the 1980s farm crisis: a multiyear slump in farm prices that has slashed net farm income by more than 50 percent since 2013. Increasingly, farmers are pinched by prices that are far below their cost of production, as well as rising input costs, growing debt, tightening credit conditions and much more.
Of course, I don’t want American farmers to suffer, but the states which voted for Trump may be a lot less wiling to vote for the Republicans now. Grassley has complained a lot.
👎 Kavanagh polling like Bork and Miers
Brett Kavanaugh, President Donald Trump’s new nominee to the Supreme Court, has been on the national stage for all of nine days, and the early reviews aren’t great: Polls show Kavanaugh as one of the most unpopular Supreme Court nominees in recent history….
You may be sensing a pattern. It’s not a huge sample size, but in the last few decades at least, Supreme Court nominees as unpopular as Kavanaugh have never been successfully confirmed.
Doesn’t mean we’ll get our way, but good to know.
💙 Democrats should be able to capitalize on Trump’s failed promises 🚧
If there’s anything that could break the president’s hold on his base, it might be an economic agenda that harms their pocketbooks and hurts their livelihoods.
… (article discusses Trump’s promises)
His voters expected Trump to deliver. “Our bridges are the worst,” said one supporter who attended Trump’s inauguration. “I think what Trump’s going to do is really get this infrastructure built again. He’s going to rebuild it.” Ahead of his first speech to Congress, one supporter told USA Today that he expects the president to “make health care affordable.”
None of this has happened. Rather than bring jobs back, Trump started a burgeoning trade war that threatens to raise prices on consumer goods, undercut business investment, and produce thousands of layoffs. And those losses may hit Trump voters hardest. “Tariff-exposed jobs are more than twice as likely to fall in counties that voted for Republican Donald Trump in 2016 than in counties won by Democrat Hillary Clinton,” reports the Washington Post. “There are more than 1 million jobs exposed to China tariffs in more than 2,600 counties carried by Trump, and fewer than 564,000 exposed jobs in Clinton’s counties.”
Congress introducing a bipartisan bill not permitting NDAs to hide harassment 📜
Republicans and Democrats agree on few things these days. But some members of Congress on both sides of the aisle seem to agree on this: Businesses should not be able to hide claims of sexual harassment against them from the public, and they should not force female workers (or any workers) to stay silent about it.
On Wednesday afternoon, a bipartisan group of representatives will introduce a bill that would bar employers from requiring workers to sign nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements related to workplace harassment.
Vox says unlikely to pass, but things like this don’t pass on the first time round. And it means that the culture is changing.
🌊 🌵 Arizona poll shows Ds lead by 7 points! 😄
A new POLITICO/AARP poll shows Democrats ahead by 7 percentage points in generic ballots in both the governor’s and Senate races.
“In Arizona, a new POLITICO/AARP poll shows Democrats ahead by 7 percentage points in generic ballots in both the governor’s and Senate races”
I vote in Arizona, so this makes me smile.
📎📎📎 Odds and Ends 📎📎 📎
Thanks to a popular film, China is reducing its prices for cancer drugs. 💉
More on drugs 💊 The FDA (the one not so terrible spot in the current administration) has a plan to import prescription drugs from abroad.
Plastic straws are being abandoned. But here are six items that are worse for the environment. (1) Abandoned fishing equipment; (2) Plastic bags; (3) Bottle caps; (4) Cigarette butts; (5) Balloons; (6) Food wrappers.
🌻 TRUTH MATTERS. LOVE MATTERS. 🌻
🌹 “Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” Aldous Huxley
🌷 “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell
🌵 “The truth isn't always beauty, but the hunger for it is.” Nadine Gordimer
🎍 “I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I'm a human being, first and foremost, and as such I'm for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” Malcolm X
🌺 “Truth never damages a cause that is just.” Mahatma Gandhi
💐 “But you can't make people listen. They have to come round in their own time, wondering what happened and why the world blew up around them. It can't last.” Ray Bradbury
💙 What You Will Do to Rescue Democracy 💙
Usually I list a whole bunch of stuff. Today I’ll just link to Yosef52’s diary.
He wrote another important diary, pointing out that the Republicans may attempt to steal the November election. Any ideas how to stop this?
Please list one thing, down below, that you will do or have done recently to save our country.
💙 🌹 🌻 🌹 💙