Author: A.T.

Handing The Mic To . . .

Glenn Sonnenberg, whose daily musings I rarely miss.  Yesterday’s:

Good morning,

This evening marks the beginning of the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. It is a time of introspection, cataloguing of life’s successes and failures, and pursuing self-improvement.

Among the most important lessons of Yom Kippur is that not only should we acknowledge our own mistakes but we should forgive those who have wronged us.

Accepting an apology—accepting contrition—arguably is just as important as acknowledging one’s own faults. We hold it within ourselves to free those who have wronged us from the burden of what they have done. In an era that is marked by playing “gotcha” with those who have erred, a little bit of compassion and humility can go a long way to repairing our politics, our society, and our personal relationships.

We are living in a moment where people condemn professors, politicians, pundits and friends—often at the cost of their reputations or employment—solely because of a misplaced word or possessing a view with which someone might disagree. What is needed, instead, is a little understanding and a little compassion. A slip of the tongue should be perceived as that, and nothing more. It seems we are in an era where giving someone the benefit of the doubt is a sign of weakness. I’m not suggesting we blindly accept bad behaviors or allow ourselves to be wronged multiple times. Certainly, repeated transgressions point to a deeper problem.

We are all human and, by definition, flawed in many respects. Mistakes are made. Hopefully, we learn from them, as we all are works in process. We should struggle to accept that everyone else similarly is a work in process, with their own challenges. We have to stop being so quick to judge others (lest we be judged…!).

A word on the present condition of our politics and our civil discourse… We would all do well to acknowledge that those with whom we disagree are, with rare exception, people of good will (and this is not to suggest that there aren’t bad actors or profoundly bad behaviors). But most people are not, as some might suggest to us, our enemies. Most of our fellow citizens share our values. They simply disagree on priorities and implementation. They have a different perspective. They are not to be vanquished; rather, we should make every attempt to understand where they come from and why they hold the views that they do. We have much healing to do in the months and years ahead. I hope our society and our institutions are strong enough to allow that to happen.

To all I may have harmed, whether through an intentional act or inadvertently or through indifference, I apologize. I’ll try to do better. And to anyone who thinks they have wronged me, it’s all good. I either don’t remember or don’t care, so forget about it!

For all who observe this day, may it be a meaningful experience and may you have an easy fast.

Have a good day,

Glenn

Echo, ditto, bravo, peace.

Tikkun Olam.

 

The Great Former Senator From Minnesota And My T-Shirt

AL FRANKEN BOILS IS IT DOWN:

This week, Senate Democrats voted to shut the government down because of health care. Republicans want to keep all the Medicaid cuts and get rid of subsidies on the Affordable Care Act that have been in place since the pandemic, thereby increasing premiums by an average of 114%.

That is what this shutdown is about. Democrats want people to have health care and Republicans don’t give a damn. And polls show that the majority of voters get it — a Navigator poll showed that 48% of Americans would blame Trump and the Republicans for the shutdown, compared to 26% blaming Democrats.

As the cost of living continues to rise under Trump, his approval rating has gone below 40%. Americans want (need) to pay for health care. And yet Trump and the Republicans are making it even more inaccessible.

I’m proud of Democrats for taking a stance on this issue. At the end of the day, Republicans don’t care if people are hurt. Democrats do.

→ You know?  Not to say they won’t throw out the occasion roll of paper towels; but it’s really kinda true.

POSTCARD FROM LISBON

I made T-shirts for our trip because it’s so embarrassing — and deeply sad — to have to admit you’re from America these days . . . a country whose current leadership is aligned with bullies, murderers, and dictators; anti-science, anti-health, anti-climate, anti-free speech, anti-consumer, anti-labor, anti-professionalism, anti-reproductive rights, anti-due process.

So far, I’ve gotten a lot broad smiles and thumbs up.

That said, I want to stress that the “hate” meant here is hate like “I hate limoncello” (I really do, and now that we’re in Italy they thrust it upon us everywhere we go).

Or “I hate not getting enough sleep.”

Or “I hate tax loopholes for the rich.”

That’s the kind of hate on my T-shirt.

As in: “deeply dislike” . . . “reject.”

NOT hate like “I’d like to punch him in the face!” or “Jews will not replace us!” or tying someone to a fence in the brutal cold and beating him to death for being gay.

Or calling your opponents “scum.”

That kind of hate has no place on anyone’s T-shirt.

Also:

How can I be so short?  I must be standing in a pothole.

 

A Smart, Tough Way To Resist?

Must-watch JB Pritzker speech — surely Carl can’t be okay with what the regime is doing.

And governors may have a legal way to resist.

Obviously this should be done, if at all, with extreme care to avoid violence.  But . . .

Governors! Arrest ICE agents!

In part:

The critical fact is that ICE’s administrative warrants, Forms I-200 and I-205, are signed by ICE officers, not judges. They’re glorified paperwork. Federal courts have repeatedly ruled these don’t authorize home entries. ICE’s own training materials admit agents “must obtain voluntary consent” before entering homes with these papers.

So when ICE breaks down a door with only administrative paperwork, that’s burglary under California Penal Code 459. When they haul away citizens without probable cause, that’s kidnapping under Penal Code 207. When they point weapons at unarmed families, that’s assault under Penal Code 245.

Factually, Trump can’t pardon state crimes. The president’s pardon power only covers federal offenses. State prosecutions are completely beyond MAGA reach.

Every prosecution, even one that ultimately fails, forces change. ICE agents would need personal lawyers. Federal defense attorneys won’t automatically represent them on state charges. That’s thousands of dollars from their own pockets, or the law enforcement union, win or lose. During prosecution, agents become cautious. Operations slow. Every agent wonders if they’re next. Supervisors second-guess tactics. The entire machinery of deportation grinds slower.

Discovery proceedings, the part where ICE has to hand over internal emails and training documents, would expose their real policies. What are they telling agents behind closed doors? What corners are they instructing them to cut? Public scrutiny changes behavior even without convictions.

Media coverage shifts the narrative. Instead of “ICE enforces immigration law,” headlines read “ICE agents arrested for breaking and entering.” Public opinion matters, even to federal agencies.

If you’re a governor — and even if you’re not — read it in full?  It’s not long; and begins with a call to citizen action.

Venezuelans fleeing the land of opportunity.

As are gay and trans native-born citizens I know.

And soon others?

Join Indivisible.

Make plans to peacefully protest with friends October 18.

Fund the opposition party (or “my” dinner — it all goes into the same pot.)  An adequately funded DNC is just one of the things we need to prevail — but it is an absolutely necessary thing.

 

From Charlie Chaplin to Jimmy Kimmel, Charlie Kirk to Elon Musk

Al Franken on Charlie Chaplin in Rolling Stone: Trump Is Trying to Silence Political Satire

Under President Trump, the First Amendment has become a dead letter. Instead, he’s spent the first eight months of his second term on a campaign of shock and awe designed to silence dissent and bring the independent media to heel. And it’s no surprise that he’s coming for the comedians now.

Charlie Chaplin was willing to mock Hitler. Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel were willing to mock an American president with his own authoritarian designs. What will the rest of us be willing to do in order to stand up to fascism? It’s not a particularly funny question. But satirists have shown us what it means to have real courage in the face of tyranny. We owe it to them to follow their example.

This, of course, was written before Jimmy Kimmel was reinstated.  Don’t give up hope!  When enough of us shout loud enough — and vote! — we win.

Nekima Levy Armstrong in the Minnesota Star Tribune.  It’s all worth reading, but this last bit sums it up:

To remember Charlie Kirk honestly requires us to hold two truths at once. The first is that violence against political opponents corrodes democracy, no matter who they are. The second is that his life’s work was not noble.

To honor his family’s grief does not mean lying about who he was. It means telling the truth without cruelty, resisting both the impulse to demonize and the pressure to sanitize. It means refusing to let his death become a blank check for historical revisionism.

As a lawyer and advocate, I know how much words matter — how they shape juries and legislation, and how they affect lives. Kirk’s words wounded. They widened the chasm of distrust among races, genders, orientation and generations. His absence will not heal that wound. Pretending the wound never existed will only deepen it.

The lesson of this moment is not about one man’s death but about the kind of democracy we want to live in. Do we want a country where political violence is normalized, or where words can be challenged with better words, stronger organizing, deeper  truth?

Kirk himself rejected empathy. We must not. Our task now is to build a culture where truth-telling and accountability coexist with compassion. We must say that he should not have been killed, and that neither should he be canonized. Both can be true, and both must be spoken aloud.

Jim Stewartson on Elon Musk:  “The violence is coming to you”.

Two truths at once: Musk has done so much good.  And is a deeply malevolent force.

Scary.

Oh — and how about them Epstein files?

 

Give It Up For Seth Meyers

Hegseth puts us all at risk. Short and to the point: Why put all the American commanders in one room?

Nat B.: “Very glad Timothy Snyder wrote this piece.  Astoundingly stupid and risky to do what Hegseth is doing.  And does ANYONE think this gathering would be happening without Trump’s approval??”

Seth Meyers takes a closer look at our leader’s performance among the nations of the world.

And now that Sinclair is putting Jimmy Kimmel back on the air, maybe Seth will be safe, too.  A lot of Americans — including the tragically assassinated Charlie Kirk as well as the former Donald Trump (as you’ll see) — consider (or at least once considered) the First Amendment to be one of the key things that make America great.

AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 683

From the macro to the micro, but it’s still telling.

A friend was headed from Miami to JFK on a flight scheduled to leave at 9:03am and land at Kennedy three minutes past noon.  We had a 7pm dinner reservation.

He texted me at 12:27 to say he was off the plane and I texted, “Welcome to New York.”

No, he explained, he was off the plane in Miami.  There had been mechanical difficulties.

He reboarded at 4:04pm.

I changed the reservation to 8:30pm.

He got off the plane — at JFK this time — at 8:17pm

I changed the reservation to 9:15pm while he was in the air, but, understandably, he was in no mood for dinner.  I ate some expired beans, baked a sweet potato, and did my taxes.

But what sort of compensation was American giving everybody, I asked.

Under Secretary Pete Buttigieg, rules were soon to be implemented guaranteeing long-delayed passengers (other than for weather) substantial compensation.  Airlines might have had to raise ticket prices slightly to cover this occasional extra expense, in effect passing the cost on to NON-delayed passengers; but it would have made the flying public a bit happier — and given airlines yet more incentive to prioritize the kind of maintenance measures that minimize delays.

The Trump regime scrapped all that.

“American gave us each a $10 meal voucher,” my friend reported.

Which is more than they were obligated to do, so I guess it was very generous.

Welcome to the regime that kills the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau . . . kills aid to the starving and oppressed around the world . . . that cancels cancer research and has set HUGE health care cuts to take effect right AFTER the 2026 midterms so no one notices before they vote . . .

You know I could go on.

But watch Seth Meyers.  So fun.

And if you happened to be on that flight with my friend, I hope you enjoyed your Cinnabon.

Have a great weekend.

 

Tidbits

BOROWITZ

Nobel Peace Prize Committee Asks Trump to Clarify Remarks About Hating His Enemies

NPR FANS

Today (Friday) is Ari Shapiro’s last “All Things Considered.”  I loved reading this interview.

TREASURY SECRETARY BESSENT

This profile is a good read.  Scott is too smart not to know that what he says in public is ridiculous.  It’s what he says in private that matters more.  Is he quietly an economic guardrail?  Would things be even worse if he resigned on principle?  What a nightmare.

CHURCH AND STATE

Rick T.:  “I haven’t heard anyone suggest this yet, but for the first time in history we have a pope who is eligible to be president. Pope Leo XIV!”

→ Who I guess would be addressed, “Your Holiness, Mr. President.”

PHONES

In response to my Noble Mobile post . . .

Bob F.: “One of my frugal, wealthy friends has this $15/month T-Mobile plan.  He has Comcast (xfinity) for home internet and says he can access xfinity wifi hotspots (and others) often enough while out and about that the 5GB T-Mobile plan is more than sufficient.  That will almost double your savings.”

Lots more to say, but I’m letting you off easy today.

 

The Coming Storm; Plus Some Good News

Yesterday, I called Stephen Miller’s must-watch Charlie Kirk eulogy “four fascist minutes of the highest order” . . .

. . . and, for permission to do so, linked to when it’s okay to call someone a fascist.

As in Miller’s case it surely is.

Today, I offer Jim Stewartson’s compelling elaboration: “Der Sturm bricht los”: Stephen Miller’s Nazi Eulogy.

Keeping with that theme . . .

You’ve surely seen clips of the 1939 Nazi rally in Madison Square Garden.

Hitler had a lot of admirers in America back then.

He has a lot of admirers today.

Among them, Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, who famously dined with the President and claims nearly a million followers.

Wired offers us Nick Fuentes’ Plan to Conquer America.

It’s a disconcerting read.

For years, as you know, Trump kept a book of Hitler’s speeches by his bedside.

He once told his chief of staff that “Hitler did some good things.”

None of which is to say Trump is Hitler.  But it’s hard to deny he’s more comfortable with journalist-murdering autocrats and kleptocrats than with the leaders of democracies.

And has designs on Canada and Greenland.

(He wouldn’t want Mexico.)

The good news: a Majority of US Voters Support Third Trump Impeachment — even 20% of self-identified Republicans.  And that was in April.  By now it may be higher.

Plus, a certain number of Democrats and Independents who said they didn’t support impeachment likely felt he deserves it . . . but that it could be counter-productive: doomed to failure and distracting from things like the Epstein files and Border czar Tom Homan’s $50,000 cash bribe.

“Release the Epstein files” has been a common mantra for quite a while. “Release the Homan tapes” is just getting started. . . .

(We’ve long since forgotten about the tax returns Trump promised to release.)

He won’t be impeached any time soon.  But if we all lean in, we’ll take back the House, and conceivably the Senate, and have a shot at saving our democracy.

Have a great day.

 

Is The Tide Turning?

And if so, which way?

STEPHEN MILLER says that by killing Charlie Kirk. we on the left (who apparently all collectively killed him) will reap the whirlwind.  We hate America and have never contributed anything to civilization.  It is the assembled MAGA crowd he is addressing who are pure and virtuous and glorious in their patriotism — they and their ancestors who built America and Western civilization.

I’m paraphrasing badly, so watch his “eulogy” — four fascist minutes of the highest order.

(See yesterday’s post for when it’s okay to call someone a fascist.  Mr. Miller proudly qualifies.)

Fortunately, only about 17% of Americans identify as MAGA.  (About half of Republicans do, but two-thirds of us are Democrats and Independents.)

So . . . while Miller thinks the floodgates will now open as the decent, civilized folks who stormed the Capitol out of love of country and the Constitution and lead us back to the promised land . . .

ROBERT REICH sees it differently.  He writes:

Friends,

I can’t tell you exactly how I know but after sixty years in and around politics I’ve developed a sixth sense, and my sixth sense tells me the tide is now turning on Trump.

This past week did it.

After a week of authoritarian excess, the nation is turning on Trump:

On Monday, he sued the Times in a lawsuit that, as CNN put it, read “like a pro-Trump op-ed, with page after page of gushing praise for the president.”

On Tuesday, he accused reporter Jonathan Karl and his employer, ABC News, of engaging in hate speech against him, and warned that Pam Bondi, the attorney general, might go after them.

On Wednesday, after Brendan Carr, his lapdog chair of the FCC, pressured ABC to suspend Jimmy Kimmel, he claimed that Kimmel being “CANCELLED” was “Great News for America,” and urged NBC to fire Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers next.

On Thursday, he said broadcast networks have been mean to him and that Brendan Carr might have to start taking their licenses away. “When you have a network and you have evening shows, and all they do is hit Trump,” he said, “they’re licensed. They’re not allowed to do that. They’re an arm of the Democrat Party.”

On Friday, he suggested that negative coverage about him is “really illegal.” Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office he said: “They’ll take a great story and they’ll make it bad. See, I think that’s really illegal,” adding “Personally, you can’t take, you can’t have a free airwave if you’re getting free airwaves from the United States government.”

On Saturday, he demanded that Bondi prosecute several of his political rivals even though grand juries and federal prosecutors couldn’t find any evidence of wrongdoing. He demanded that she do it “NOW!!!”

On Sunday, at the memorial service for Charlie Kirk, he said that he disagreed with Kirk’s supposed leniency toward his ideological foes, adding: “I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them.”

You could almost feel the great sleeping giant of America open an eye and frown, then blink both eyes and sit up and stretch, and then roar “what the hell is going on here?”

Immediately after Kimmel’s suspension, Disney viewers and customers began to cancel their subscriptions to Disney+ and Hulu and threaten a broader consumer boycott.

According to Strength in Numbers, the Disney boycott quickly became four times as large as any boycott over the last five years.

Disney’s stock dipped about 3.5 percent and continued to trade lower in subsequent days — a loss in market value amounting to some $4 billion.

Even Ted Cruz — Ted Cruz! — began issuing grave warnings about censorship.

By then the giant was roaring and stomping.

By Monday, Disney decided to put Kimmel back on the air.

Trump’s poll numbers were dipping even before last week’s explosion of authoritarianism. Now they’re in free fall.

I’m old enough to have witnessed the great sleeping giant of America awaken before.

Joe McCarthy’s communist witch hunt destroyed countless careers before the giant roared: “have you no sense of decency?”

McCarthy melted almost as quickly as the Wicked Witch of the West. His national popularity evaporated. Three years later, censored by his Senate colleagues, ostracized by his party, and ignored by the press, McCarthy drank himself to death, a broken man at the age of forty-eight.

The giant roared again a decade later, after television showed civil rights marchers getting clobbered by white supremacists. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act.

It roared again after tens of thousands of young Americans were killed in the jungles of Vietnam, finally bringing to an end one of the nation’s costliest, deadliest, and stupidest wars.

It roared again at Richard Nixon after Nixon was heard on tape plotting the coverup of Watergate — then being forced to exit the White House by helicopter on his way back to California.

It is starting to roar again now — at the sociopathic occupant of the Oval Office who won’t tolerate criticism, who in one wild week revealed his utter contempt for the freedom of Americans to criticize him, to write or speak negatively about him, even to joke about him.

Maybe I’m being too optimistic, but I’ve seen a lot. I know the signs. The sleeping giant always remains asleep until some venality becomes so noxious, some action so disrespectful of the common good, some brutality so noisy, that he has no choice but to awaken.

And when he does, the good sense of the American people causes him to put an end to whatever it was that awakened him.

 

I think most Americans think Trump has gone too far.  That he has failed to deliver on his promises to deliver lower prices, great health care, and the Epstein files.  And to bring integrity and competence back to government by draining the swamp.

But it would be a terrible mistake to underestimate what he and Stephen Miller do plan to deliver.

So who’s right — Miller or Reich?

At the end of the day, that’s kind of up to us, no?

Join Indivisible.

Fund the opposition party (or “my” dinner — it all goes into the same pot.)

 

An Easy Way To Save $500 / Year

But first . . .

WHAT IS FASCISM; AND . . .

When can you call someone a fascist? (4 minutes)

Worth your time.

Because fascism is commonly accepted as evil, even those who full-throatedly fit the definition don’t want to be labeled that way.

It would be interesting to know how they define fascism.

Anyone?  Anyone?

WHAT TOP CEO’s THINK

Behind closed doors, they say Trump is bad for business
By Jeffrey Sonnenfeld and Stephen Henriques writing in FORTUNE:

The CEO’s dismay across foreign relations and economic issues is consistent with general opinion polling across the board. . . . Each set of data set sends a clear message: America sharply disapproves of President Trump’s leadership. . . .

After nine months in office, there is a clear desire to return to a respect for the balance of powers in government, to reinforce international allies, to fortify independent, objective expertise of economists and scientists, to encourage freedom of voice, to stop bullying countries, cities, and companies into resentful, uneconomical compromises. In short, CEOs are calling to make America, America again.

If only they had the courage to band together and say so out loud.

Because . . .

COURAGE CAN BE CONTAGIOUS

Robert Reich explains and inspires.

ABC’s putting Jimmy Kimmel back on the air encourages.  If protest is loud enough, we can be heard.

And now . . .

I just switched from AT&T to Noble Mobile.  It’s T-Mobile underneath, but for $50 a month for voice and unlimited data . . . less what you get back in months when you use less than 20GB of data.  Take two minutes to let Andrew Yang explain.

He was inspired, he has said, by Mark Cuban’s Cost-Plus Drugs which has saved me thousands of dollars.

Now I’ll save $500 more.

Noble’s pitch in a nutshell:

> The same powerful 5G coverage the big guys use
> Unlimited everything, and cash back when you use less than 20GB
> Rewards and perks for being a Noble Member

I’ve long been an Andrew Yang fan.  Now more than ever.