I say YES. YOU say NO....Numero Tre! Enjoy!
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The problem, often not discovered until late in life, is that when you look for things in life like love, meaning, motivation, it implies they are sitting behind a tree or under a rock. The most successful people in life recognize, that in life they create their own love, they manufacture their own meaning, they generate their own motivation. For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday, and lessen the suffering of others. You'd be surprised how far that gets you. -Neil deGrasse Tyson
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All for it if the right things are learned and it doesn't have to happen again.
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Hello to all!! Sitting here on the other side of the Border I am in such a state of horror. How on Earth can the Repugnicians vote to acquit? Surely there are 17 with a sense of country over party. That 13 minute video was terrifying. The very people who were fleeing for their lives will vote to let 45 off?!! I am going to use a quote from a British show , changing only "the Bench" to The Senate floor"....... " a shiver crawled across the Senate floor looking for a spine to climb"
The mind boggles. For the past four years while I was cussing Trudeau (he can be an ass), I was thanking the Fates for being Canadian. My heart breaks and bleeds for you.
Thank you for all the great political cartoons. I had so many good laughs, followed by a sigh about the reality behind them.
Blessings.
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I get my first vaccine shot next Thursday. Whoo Hoo!
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Whoo Hoo is right and I am happy for you Ruth. ND was hit soooo hard with the virus so great to hear. I got mine ( first one ) on Feb 3rd. with second due on Mar 2nd. I had thought to be waiting yet with no date in sight. I think our PCP turned our name in for us at the V.A. We were called and while I was willing to wait ( if I had too ) I chose to go with it. Seemed faster than trying to put us on lists around here.
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Elderberry - I am with you. I hope that at least a couple more sign on when time for the impeachment vote comes, but it is hard to see it at the moment. With the mess the Reps. are in I'm thinking it possible that a lot more may leave that party depending on the vote count.
Like you I do love a lot of the cartoons, memes and other funny things here but the WHY they turn up is sometimes far from actually laughable. It is just that if we didn't laugh as much as we can we would all be crying 98 % of the time. Whatever happens impeachment wise -- it is a thing of beauty right now to have Biden as our leader. Outside of the obvious -- I've already had almost whole days where I don't feel deep concern for what Pres. Biden is doing because I know it's meant to heal and nor harm.
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Biden gets 62% approval in CNBC poll, a sky-high initial reading
Steve Liesman
President Joe Biden is on the best presidential honeymoon since at least Bill Clinton in 1993.
A special online edition of the CNBC All-America Economic Survey focusing on the Biden agenda finds his approval rating at a sky-high 62%, beating the first presidential ratings of Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. In fact, Biden's initial rating is 18 points higher than Trump's.
The survey of 1,000 people conducted earlier this month sees Biden with majority approval for his handling of the economy and for uniting the country. Sixty-five percent of the public approve of his actions so far when it comes to fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
>>> Unlike Trump, Biden "has made the coronavirus his most important issue in office and throughout the campaign," said Jay Campbell, a Hart Research partner and the Democratic pollster for the survey. "And the health and economic plans he has put forward have a great deal of resonance with the public."
Biden also benefited from taking office with vaccines approved and hopefully, the worst of the pandemic behind the nation, Campbell said.
>>> But given the prior bitter divisions in the country, Campbell added, " The fact that there even is a honeymoon, I think, to the degree there is, is kind of shocking."
The survey, which has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points, also found strong support for several of Biden's key issues, including his proposed $1.9 trillion relief bill, hiking the minimum wage, expanding health coverage and battling inequality.
Focus on pandemic
It also offered a warning to Biden: When it comes to what Americans believe are the most immediate priorities, the top issues are fighting the virus, creating jobs and providing relief to businesses and individuals.
For example, 78% said ending the pandemic should be the No. 1 priority. Addressing climate change is at the top for only 29% even though an additional 29% say it's important and should be addressed this year.
The numbers are similar for boosting the minimum wage, with just 30% saying it should be the top priority but another 29% saying it's important to do this year. Fifty-four percent say a $15 per hour minimum wage is the right level and an additional 10% believe it is too low, with just 36% believing it's too high. That support remains virtually unchanged even when people are asked about whether it's right for their local area. It holds up even though many believe raising the minimum wage could lead to higher prices or job losses.
For example, 83% said raising the minimum wage will lead to higher prices, but 59% of that group still think $15 is about right or too low. While 74% believe a higher minimum wage could lead to job losses, 53% of that group still believes $15 is the right number or too low.
"Individual states have taken action on this with varying degrees of success and it's in the political bloodstream, so it's not as controversial as it was three to five years ago,″ said Micah Roberts, a partner with Public Opinion Strategies, the Republican pollster for the survey. Roberts points out, however, that support overall is lower in rural communities.
The survey shows Americans are downbeat on the economy, with 77% characterizing it as just fair or poor, and 23% saying it's good or excellent. However, 36% see the economy improving in the next year, compared with 32% who believe it will get worse and 32% who believe it will stay the same.
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Sadly:
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Many of us will never understand how or why some people worship Trump. I think in a way, Biden gets high approval ratings because he is not in our face every single day making himself the center of our universe. He has stayed away from commenting on the impeachment, saying the Senate will take care of it. He didn't blast Mark Cuban for not playing the national anthem at Dallas Maverick games. I believe the NBA stepped in and said it will be required to be played before all games. Biden never had to register a thought on the matter, It simply took care of itself and was not hyper-politicized and splitting families apart. He and Jill went and paid respects to Officer Sicknik at the Capital with no fanfare whatsoever, doing what a President and First Lady are meant to do: honor the officer and his service to our country, not make it about themselves or politics.
Biden is just going about the business of governing. I think people, whether they are aware of it or not, are hearing the quiet sound of our federal government working as it should, with, as we have all said, adults in charge. People who have experience in what they are doing. We feel we are in good hands.
Another thing I like is not seeing Trump's dumpy body and orange skin with a tumbleweed on top his head. Biden cuts a nice figure in his suits, different fabrics, different ties; they fit him nicely and you can tell he's comfortable in how they look on him and how he feels wearing them. Accessorized with a good haircut and normal skin tone. It all adds up to a subtle but very real visual cue of his competency as Leader of the Free World. Quietly conveys: I am not a deranged psychopath. I like that.
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Divine, it has been extremely refreshing. I haven't thought once really of how other countries are looking at us 'right' now. And I do feel relaxed about not rushing to the t.v. or Internet to see what heinous phrase, incident or horrid misstep has been made that will have to be lived down. Lastly, when you know there is someone you can trust who will do the utmost to keep the office full of honor, dignity, respect and honest values -- who won't be looking for personal enrichment, you can breathe that deep sigh or relief. My sense of hope is so much stronger -- much more consistent and I'm enjoying those deep hungry breaths that I missed for four yrs.
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This could fit on either side -- but I mainly view if from the lens of having lived the last four yrs. with the most prolific liar I imagine there ever was.
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Apparently this time they thought it would be different. Then again --- I guess they thought what they were doing, grandly designed by magic orange man himself, was going to work and so no one would have to suffer the consequences. Just another case in point -- if Trump would have been held accountable from the start -- he might have actually won ( oh horrors ) the last election, but certainly would not have had the backing to go as far as a insurrection at the Capitol. Either way -- there is no way I could ever feel sorry to the people ( and I hope there are plenty of them ) who will be in jail for as long as possible.
and I also hope Trump's life works out to not be so luxurious after all. I hope the govt. gets him on back taxes and I do hope he goes to jail and loses the majority of his so called 'billions' -- whether it is thru being called in by those he owes, or by back taxes.
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Opponents say raising the minimum wage will cost jobs. It seems to me that it will create jobs by increasing demand for services and other things. If you're not desperately poor, you can go out to eat, buy clothes, get things for children, etc.
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Heather Cox Richardson
February 10, 2021 (Wednesday)
"This case is much worse than someone who falsely shouts fire in a crowded theater. It's more like a case where the town fire chief, who's paid to put out fires, sends a mob not to yell fire in a crowded theater, but to actually set the theater on fire."
This was how lead House impeachment manager Jamie Raskin (D-MD) explained Trump's role in the January 6 insurrection to the senators trying the former president Trump for inciting that insurrection.
Over the course of today, the House impeachment managers laid out a devastating timeline of the former president's effort, beginning even before the 2020 election, to prime his supporters to believe the only way he could lose was if the Democrats cheated. Manager Joseph Neguse (D-CO) used the rioters' own words to show that they were responding to Trump's calls to fight for his reelection. Manager Eric Swalwell (D-CA) pointed out that the Trump camp spent $50 million on national "STOP THE STEAL!" ads that ran until the planned "big protest" on January 6. That presentation alone was powerful, as the managers put videos of rally speeches and tweets together to let the story tell itself.
But the tale grew riveting when impeachment manager Stacey Plaskett, a Democratic delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands, took the story into the Capitol building itself. She followed the rioters using footage from their own cellphones and the cameras of journalists who recorded their actions. But she had more than those videos. Plaskett used previously unseen video from security cameras to illustrate just how close the rioters came to capturing Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, both of whom they were searching for specifically, as well as lawmakers in general. In some cases, the congress members and their staffs were within seconds of being caught.
The mocking, singsong, drawn out calls for "Nancy" from a rioter searching for the House Speaker as if he were a monster stalking a victim in a horror movie, and the angry chants to "Hang Mike Pence!" from rioters who had hung a noose from a gallows they constructed outside the Capitol, left little doubt the rioters were deadly. Richard Barnett, the man photographed with his feet on Pelosi's desk, carried a 950,000-volt stun gun.
Impeachment manager David Cicilline (D-RI) took the baton from Plaskett, hammering home that Trump had continued to stoke the crowd's anger against Pence even as the vice president was in lockdown at the Capitol, and that he refused to stop the riot despite pleading from his aides and allies. Manager Joaquin Castro (D-TX) brought the argument home: "On January 6, President Trump left everyone in this Capitol for dead."
It was a riveting, damning presentation, showing just how close we came to an event even worse than the day turned out to be. In one particularly dramatic new scene from the security cameras, we saw Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, who later lured the rioters away from the Senate chamber to give the lawmakers enough time—barely—to get to safety, prevent Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) from walking into the mob, likely saving his life.
The story the managers told set out quite clearly that the insurrection was not only planned, it was timed to disrupt the counting of the electoral votes that would make Joe Biden president. As impeachment manager Ted Lieu (D-CA) put it, Trump "ran out of nonviolent options to maintain power…. What you saw was a man so desperate to try to cling to power that he tried everything he could to keep it, and when he ran out of nonviolent measures, he turned to the violent mob that attacked your Senate chamber on January 6."
The House managers tried to make it possible for Republican senators to convict Trump. They focused on him alone, leaving untouched the fact that some of the senators in the chamber had themselves spread the lie that the election had been marred by massive fraud. (The one apparently in deepest, Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri, refused to watch the presentation.)
They held up Vice President Pence as a principled leader attacked while trying to do his constitutional duty, offering Republican senators a choice not between their party and the Democrats, but rather between Trump and Pence, Republicans both. They also detailed the attack on Capitol police officers, offering the chance for Republicans to side against Trump and with the officers.
In their defense of Pence, the impeachment managers made clear a curious thing: the popular anger at Pence was entirely manufactured. Pence's role on January 6 was largely ceremonial; he could not challenge the counting of the electoral votes, and he said so, both in person and in writing, as Trump continued to pressure him to. Trump's deliberate stoking of fury at the vice president meant the crowd was actively hunting for Vice President Pence and House Speaker Pelosi, the next two people in line for the presidency should Trump be removed from office.
And yet, there are signs that none of this matters to the Republican senators who have already decided to acquit the president. On Twitter, Senator Lindsey Graham tonight called the day's presentation "offensive and absurd."
Still others say that, even if what happened is horrific, the trial is unconstitutional because Trump is no longer president, although the fact the Senate voted that it is constitutional should mean that point is settled. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) told CNN correspondent Ryan Nobles, "I'm learning things. But, again, my basic point is we shouldn't have having this trial."
It seems likely that they are contemplating the experience of Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), whose state Republican Party pounced on his vote yesterday in favor of the constitutionality of the trial, saying it was "profoundly disappointed."
But those doubling down on Trump's leadership of the party have their own troubles. In the 25 states that have accessible data, nearly 140,000 Republicans have left the party since January 6, and tonight, Reuters broke the story that "former elected Republicans, former officials in the Republican administrations of Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush and Trump, ex-Republican ambassadors and Republican strategists," are in talks to form a new center-right political party. While Trump spokesman Jason Miller called the people involved "losers," they are savvy enough at political strategy to plan to make their influence felt not necessarily by running third-party candidates, but by endorsing the non-Trump candidate in a race, regardless of party.
While almost all eyes are on the Senate impeachment trial, Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill is working its way through the relevant House committees. Today, by a party-line vote, the House Education and Labor Committee moved its portion along with a provision to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025.
At the White House, Biden spoke on the telephone for the first time with Chinese President Xi Jinping, whom he knows from his days as vice president. The two discussed areas of shared interest, such as the pandemic, global health, and climate change. Biden also called the Chinese leader out for "coercive and unfair economic practices," as well as the anti-democratic crackdown in Hong Kong and, in Xinjiang, human rights abuses.
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Trump is likely to be acquitted in his impeachment trial, it is a shame. Many top Rep Senators claim they don’t see the legality in impeaching him since he’s no longer in office. I believe they make that statement to save face. In other words, they see the heinous crime he committed, but, whelp, shrug of the shoulders, it’s too late now.
I saw a FB post originated by Robert Reich that 15 Rep Senators did not attend Trump’s trial today. If that is true, it is so shitty.
I do think Democrats want to go down in history as wanting Trump held accountable, even tho they know there won’t be enough votes to convict. But this moment in history cannot simply be brushed aside. It’s a shame the Republicans are so fqn defiant.
But at least the Democrats control the White House. My husband, who loathed Donnie for decades, said today, “It’s still kind of unbelievable that Trump’s not president anymore.” And I said, “Believe it, honey!”
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To All: I am just relieved to not hear THAT voice. No tweets. When I had a "Trump-free Day" by 4:00 p.m. I was twitchy in case I missed something truly awful. It was crack TV. It was bad for my health but I couldn't stop. What a relief to see a competent person at the helm, someone who can construct whole coherent sentences. I can get back to yelling at Canadian politicians. Their faults pale in comparison to Trump's. Did I miss any posts that mentioned Canada has declared the Proud Boys a domestic terrorist organization?. I am ashamed the founder came from The True North.
Trump's getting off is a foregone conclusion. But Georgia has an investigation into his calls. There is still the SDNY case. Surely there can be a criminal investigation into inciting violence. Even civilians who never held office can be charged with that.
Divine: I heard the same thing, that 15 GOP didn't even attend. What contempt. And GOP senators meeting with the defense. Since when do jury members meet with the lawyers? I also saw that some GOP senators didn't attend because they had interviews at Faux News. My vocabulary has run out of suitable swear words.
Waaaaaaaaa.
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Yes, well even if we have to go without Trump convicted although no one deserves it more, he is going to have many, many woes coming up and he could well be convicted from SDNY or from the Fulton County DA Fani Willis who is opening a criminal investigation of the call that Trump made to Raffensberger over 'finding' votes for him so GA. election could be taken fro Biden and given to him.
I think in fact, it was mentioned somewhere that in part many of the Reps. are not going to vote to convict Trump on the impeachment so they can save their hides just in case and since they feel like he is going to end up being gotten out of the way through other investigations and possible convictions there. The thing is -- I think the Reps. party is such a god-awful mess now -- no matter what they do or don't do it is going to be hell. The thing is -- when you let Trump get ahold of something -- he strangles it to death. The only thing he tries to help live and breath and survive is himself. He has no idea how toxic he actually is to things or else he would have worked harder to actually curry favor from the people who were always bending over backward for him. He wasn't capable of that. So maybe he will go down and the party that took him in will too.
As was earlier mentioned -- the fact that the Democrats were willing to go through ( although much easier this time with our having all Democratic levers ) doing the impeachment, is not only did we have top-notch people as Managers laying out the case in what seemed almost perfect form, but there will be a highly cogent recitation for history of just what took place, who was involved, and what was done about it. There will be no way to negate facts, to be able to make things slightly murky, or create any real doubt about who brought shame, disgrace and disaster and horror filled aftermath to the election of 2020.
I'm sure we all think he should pay, but in one way or the other I think he will. I will admit I feel great impatience about it. Every day he is free and able to come and go pretty much as he pleases irritates me because he is so un-deserving. Then again, I think of him as someone who is so un-sound in mind that he never "appreciates" as many others do, the losses he has had and the many that could still come along. He finds excuses for these losses, and it is never true ones.
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I want this mask!
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What took her so long to see the light?
or
It took an insurrection for her to see the light?
Nikki Haley breaks with Trump: 'We shouldn't have followed him'
BY CELINE CASTRONUOVO - 02/12/21 The Hill
Former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued stunning remarks breaking with former President Trump, telling Politico in an interview published Friday that she believes he "let us down."
>>> "We need to acknowledge he let us down," Haley, who served in her ambassador role under Trump, said. "He went down a path he shouldn't have, and we shouldn't have followed him, and we shouldn't have listened to him. And we can't let that ever happen again."
Haley's remarks are her strongest yet against the former president in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and come as Trump's legal team is set to defend the former president on Friday in his second Senate impeachment trial.
The House impeached the former president for a second time shortly after the riots, saying his unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud following his election loss to President Biden and his comments earlier that day incited the mob that stormed the Capitol.
The former South Carolina governor told Politico that she has not spoken with Trump since the mob attack, further expressing her disappointment with remarks Trump gave at a rally ahead of the riot condemning his own vice president, Mike Pence.
>>> "When I tell you I'm angry, it's an understatement," Haley told Politico. "I am so disappointed in the fact that [despite] the loyalty and friendship he had with Mike Pence, that he would do that to him. Like, I'm disgusted by it."
Haley in the days immediately following the attack said in a speech to Republican National Committee members that Trump was "badly wrong with his words," at his Jan. 6 rally.
"And it wasn't just his words," she added at the time. "His actions since Election Day will be judged harshly by history."
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Judge Tells Capitol Siege 'Bullhorn Lady' She's 'So Unpatriotic It Makes My Straight Hair Curl'
Feb 12, 2021
USA News
A Sandy Lake, Pennsylvania, woman dubbed "bullhorn lady" during the January 6 Capitol riots was released under house arrest but told she must wear a mask at all times in public.
Judge Beryl Howell offered the mask mandate after it was made clear that Powell had repeatedly refused to wear masks in the past, and had actually been fired from a job for refusing to wear one. In late December she posted "I'm unashamedly a 'super spreader'" on Facebook, according to The New Yorker.
Speaking to Powell during her release hearing, Howell said that her actions were "so unpatriotic it makes my straight hair curl," according to The Daily Beast.
Powell, 40, is among the more than 250 people who have been charged in connection with the January 6 Capitol siege.
The mother of eight was filmed at the Capitol shouting instructions into a bullhorn and directing rioters around the Capitol. She has been charged with depredation of government property, entering restricted buildings or grounds with a dangerous weapon, entering restricted buildings or grounds, and violent entry or disorderly conduct.
According to prosecutors, Powell "picked up a large pipe and used it as a battering ram to break into the United States Capitol. Then, amplified by a large bullhorn, she corralled her fellow rioters and gave instructions on how to 'take' the Capitol, including instructions that revealed operative knowledge of the inner-Capitol layout."
Prosecutors said she ordered rioters to "coordinate together if you are going to take this building," and alerted them they had "another window to break."
Powell was the subject of a February 2 New Yorker article by Ronan Farrow, in which she identified photos of herself taken at the Capitol on the day of the siege.
Alluding to her "bullhorn lady" moniker, she told Farrow: "Listen, if somebody doesn't help and direct people, then do more people die? That's all I'm going to say about that. I can't say anymore. I need to talk to an attorney."
At the time of the interview, Powell was considered a fugitive and was arrested two days later, on February 4, after local authorities received a tip about her whereabouts.
Prosecutors said her decision to given an interview to The New Yorker rather than turn herself in showed a "disregard for the aims of law enforcement."
In her interview with The New Yorker, Powell admitted that she didn't vote for Trump in 2016, and had a hard time deciding whether to vote for Trump in the 2020 election.
She also noted that Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, had been one of her primary sources of information, despite his repeated baseless claims about election fraud.
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When all the words have been written, and all the phrases have been spoken, the great mystery of life will still remain. We may map the terrains of our lives, measure the farthest reaches of the universe, but no amount of searching will ever reveal for certain whether we are all children of chance or part of a great design. And who among us would have it otherwise? Who would wish to take the mystery out of the experience of looking into a newborn infant's eyes? -Kent Nerburn
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I see Haley like so many of the Reps. She is doing what she thinks will get her the most opportunity to run in 2024 for President. This is akin to Hawley, Cruz and others. Haley seems not to be as concerned right now with Trump voters and I think may be betting on time. She is betting Trump will go up in flames again over SDNY or whatever investigations get him gone and out of any way of influencing outcomes much in the future. I think ( but then he has never let that guide him ) Trump just stomps on anyone who seems disloyal to him or is otherwise in his way somehow. This has caused some of those he 'sent' to the Capitol to turn on him.
Too bad they can't all recognize how disloyal he actually is but then many of those people are frenzied to the degree that having believed Trump they are no longer able to correctly judge, which is what will continue to make them dangerous. They are now not much more rational than Trump
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