Weekend thoughts and open for reader comments.
January 14, 2023
Who had the events of this week on their bingo card? Not me! It goes to show us that anything can happen—and probably will. I am opening the Comments section to all readers this weekend to allow everyone to share their reactions to the week’s surprising events. As always, please be respectful of one another, use the “like” button to flag worthy comments for other readers, and use paragraph breaks to enhance the readability of lengthy comments. And special thanks to paying subscribers who help keep the lights on!
To help get the discussion started, I want to share two items that came in today’s Comments section and one in my email. As usual, I have a theme, but I will let you discern my overall point for the weekend.
Reader Annette D. of Florida posted this comment on Friday:
What’s that old saying…something about “it’s not the mountains that get in your way, it’s the grains of sand in your shoe”. My shoes are filled. After working so hard to stave off the red wave, these latest antics by the clown car House Republicans and Biden and Garland’s missteps have made even us diehard Democrats weary. The president of my local Democrat Club is in the same boat. So, yes, we shall continue, but how the hell can we dump out all this sand?
Reader Vollie Scott posted this comment on Friday:
In a Special Election this past Tuesday, Aaron Rouse won a seat in Virginia’s Senate, defeating the Republican candidate by fewer than 400 votes and expanding a one-seat Democratic majority. He ran on protecting access to abortion and against Governor Younkin’s plan to severely restrict that access.
“Tony the Democrat” supported Mr. Rouse’s candidacy with a call to postcard writers. We responded. We made a difference.
What will you do today to make a difference for good?
Reader’s John S. and Margo K. emailed me to urge readers to listen to Michael Moore’s podcast series, Blue Dots in a Red Sea (Ep. 1) - Michael Moore. The description for the series says:
Our Next “Impossible” Blue Tsunami Task: How to Win When You’re Blue in a Red State (12 mini podcast episodes for the next 12 days!)
John and Margo advise that if you don’t have time to listen to all twelve episodes, then start with Episode 12, which provides a summary of strategy and action steps.
As I wrote yesterday, “this too shall pass.” Hang on for a few more days and the winds of fortune will change direction unexpectedly (as always). We have momentum and truth on our side. That is all we need to win over the long run. Stay strong!
Enjoy your weekend!
THE MIDTERMS CONTINUE . . IN PENNSYLVANIA. You may have heard that Democrats have a 1 seat margin in the Pennsylvania General Assembly (the lower house). The Senate is solidly Republican. But right now there are at least 3 vacancies in traditionally Democratic districts (and 1 in a Republican Senate seat). Vacancies resulted from a death of one representative and the election of one representative to lieutenant governor and one to Congress.
Here's the skinny: the elections are coming SOON -- February 7. These three races are all “must wins” in order to keep a Democratic Majority in the Pennsylvania State House, where the Governor, Lt. Governor and Attorney General are all Democrats, thanks to last November. By doing so, we will prevent the 80 odd proposed constitutional amendments hanging over Pennsylvania like a sword of Damocles from being placed on the ballot in the near future. Those proposed amendments cover everything from banning abortion to impairing voting rights (mail-in ballots, voter ID, etc.) and everything in between, like our new Governor’s ability to issue regulations and what can be taught or read in the schools.
The elections are incredibly important to Pennsylvania and nationally; winning all three will prevent turning the state over to the right wing. The proposed amendments are not only threats to individual Pennsylvanian's rights, but they are also designed to make it harder to elect Democrats in the critical next cycle.
WHAT YOU CAN DO: support the Pennsylvania Democrats at go.padems.com. Or contact your favorite grass roots group to check out their involvement. From past elections, I would say that the political work by the SEIU has been incredibly effective in these districts -- all three are located in Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), traditionally the western anchor of Democratic support in Pennsylvania, but also a relatively expensive media market. Please help -- now!
Democrats have to in at the state level to be effective -- and this is just critical for 2024.
From the for what it’s worth perspective, this is mine. Biden, Garland and other older folks in Biden’s administration are good people, but they make mistakes. Their staff works hard, but they get tired, distracted and worn thin from the demanding work, so they overlook things that may not seem important at the moment because something else needs to be done immediately.
Biden is beyond packing the stuff in his office and storing it when moving from one office into another. Younger folks working long days as they are learning how to function in an underpaid but demanding government job. They were responsible for getting Biden’s Vice Presidential materials out of the Obama facilities, so documents got tossed into transfer boxes that should not have gone where they ended up being stored. Stuff happens.
Should someone in the Biden administration taken time to look everywhere that Biden’s Obama administration materials were being stored immediately following the Trump document mess? Of course. That would have been the logical thing to do given the political atmosphere, and if it did, we would have never heard anything about that bit of housekeeping. That better housekeeping didn’t happen, and that’s a shame. But, so what? Unlike the Trump criminal fiasco, this is an uncomfortable messy nothing series of events. Please give Biden and Garland an old guy pass and move on.
I’m a few years younger than Biden. We’re both men of average abilities and intellect, but Biden is a much harder and dedicated worker than I am, and I’m very happy that he is willing to do what he is doing. He is a good pol. He knows how to get stuff done. I couldn’t do it, and I’m too selfish and lazy to do what President Biden has chosen to do. I feel the same way about Garland. They are good men, and I’m happy they are on our team and show up every day. This is a long fight, and if it was easy, any fool could do it. That’s why very few people choose the life, and why it is hard work. Please support and defend Biden and Garland whenever anyone bitches about them. It’ll help us get past this and soon this mess will be just a dumb memory.