How to write gooder » « So, you’re telling me I shouldn’t expect my tax refund check any time soon?

I might be slightly optimistic about possibilities in the future

That’s about as enthusiastic as I can get right now, but we do have some Democrats who actually get it. JB Pritzker is setting the tone.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker (D) on Sunday called for mass protests against the Trump administration and blasted “do-nothing Democrats” who have failed to mount a stronger opposition to the Republicans in control of the federal government.

“Never before in my life have I called for mass protests, for mobilization, for disruption. But I am now,” Pritzker said in his keynote address at the New Hampshire Democratic Party’s McIntyre-Shaheen 100 Club Dinner.

“These Republicans cannot know a moment of peace,” he continued. “They have to understand that we will fight their cruelty with every megaphone and microphone that we have.”

“We must castigate them on the soapbox and then punish them at the ballot box,” he added.

Oh my gosh! He’ll never get invited on CNN with that kind of rhetoric, and Watters will say snide things about him on Fox! Good. Set their hair on fire.

Also, he has a few words for his fellow Democrats.

But he also criticized some members of his own party for listening to political pundits instead of everyday Americans, saying they are “flocking to podcasts and cable news shows to admonish fellow Democrats for not caring enough about the struggles of working families.”

“Those same do-nothing Democrats want to blame our losses on our defense of Black people, of trans kids, of immigrants, instead of their own lack of guts and gumption,” Pritzker said.

Wow. The DNC is going to try to kill his chances in the next election, because they like their candidates to be gutless, hollow old farts.

JB Pritzker will be one to watch. Our governor, Tim Walz, has not let up on his criticisms of weird Republicans, and Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been stirring enthusiastic crowds all around the country. Sanders is too old, I’m sorry to say — we should have elected him to the presidency 20 years ago — but I’d vote for AOC in a heartbeat. We’ve been saddled with Schumers and Pelosis for way too long.

(Oh, hey, Buttigeg works for me, too.)

Pritzker said more that I like:

How to write gooder » « So, you’re telling me I shouldn’t expect my tax refund check any time soon?

Comments

  1. F.O. says

    Pritzker is saying the right things, but IIRC is a billionaire, so tweak your hopes and strategy accordingly.

  3. rorschach says

    I completely disagree. The whole duopoly is a sickness. Recall that all the Democrats confirmed Marco Rubio to his current position. AOC voted for weapon shipments to the fascists in Israel, so did Walz, if not recently. Schumer, sure, he’s an absolute failure of a politician, sending sternly worded letters in times of fascist takeovers, but I really don’t see any other Democrat being any better. Pritzker is shouty, but also very rich.
    When this is all over in a few decades, the USA needs to write a new constitution and restore public education, or it will just be another failed state. And until then, we’re all in trouble.

  4. raven says

    I might be slightly optimistic about possibilities in the future

    There is significant resistance and it is getting organized.
    The majority of Americans oppose what Trump, the GOP, and the oligarchy are doing.

    Pritzker is one. Some Democratic Senators are others.
    Patty Murray from Washington, the West coast senators, Chris Van Hollen from Maryland went to El Salvador, etc..
    Some House Representatives. like Cory Booker and AOC.
    A large number of Judges.

    People have realized that Trump and the GOP are bullies and you have to stand up to them. If you give in, they just make more demands.

    .1. If you oppose the fascists, you might well win or you could end up losing.
    .2. If you don’t oppose them, you are guaranteed to lose.

    The choice is obvious and it shouldn’t be hard to make.
    Guys like Senator Chuck Schumer and Governor Newsom of California haven’t figured it out and should be primaried out of office.

  6. John Watts says

    #3 rorschach —
    the USA needs to write a new constitution

    We need to be careful here. We have no idea what the end result will be. If we had a Constitutional Convention (aka Convention of States) there’s a valid fear of a runaway convention. We could have all kinds of amendments that we didn’t bargain for. Here are just some changes conservatives contemplated at a mock convention a few years ago.

    Repeal the 16th Amendment, which grants Congress the ability to impose an income tax
    Repeal the 14th Amendment Equal Protection Clause
    Repeal the 22nd Amedment limiting presidential terms
    Reduce the power of the federal judiciary
    Give states standing to challenge the constitutionality of any action taken by Congress or the executive branch
    Make abortion illegal nationwide
    A balanced budget amendment
    An amendemnt protecting the rights of property, contract, religion, and association
    No direct election of senators
    No birthright citizenship
    No flag desecration
    No gay marriage
    An amendment limiting what goods could be bought, sold or transported across state lines.

    There were others, but you get the gist of how the MAGA revolt could completely transform the nation.

  8. says

    @6: Yeah, that’d be scary.

    We need a lot of education and culture shift to promote the values of a free society over the corruption of a repressive one. Especially among white men.

  9. Reginald Selkirk says

    Amazon’s Starlink rival sees the first 27 satellites successfully reach low-earth orbit — Project Kuiper satellites ‘operating as expected’

    Amazon CEO Andy Jassy just confirmed that the company’s Project Kuiper has begun deploying satellites in low-earth orbit. “Important moment for @ProjectKuiper as we just confirmed our first 27 production satellites are operating as expected in low Earth orbit,” Jassy said on…

    This deployment will just be the first of many, especially as the company has previously sought permission to launch 3,236 satellites to deliver internet services around the globe. It took six years for Amazon to go from applying for permits from the FCC to launching its satellites, and it will probably take a few more years before it can fully launch the rest of its planned constellation. We will also likely have to wait a few more months before Amazon starts offering satellite internet services to its customers — after all, it took Starlink about one year and five months after the initial launch of its satellites before it could offer subscriptions.

    Amazon said that it hopes to deliver internet services to millions of underserved customers globally, meaning it will compete directly against Starlink. However, Musk started earlier than Bezos, with SpaceX launching satellites for Starlink just as Project Kuiper was getting permits from the FCC in 2019. It also has a much larger constellation, with over 7,000 satellites already in low-earth orbit at the time of writing (and plans for 35,000 more)…

    Still, Amazon’s offering of a competing satellite internet service is crucial for consumers, as this will allow for competition and give customers the option to pick a service that fits their needs better. Another company is also trying to enter the satellite internet space — China-based SpaceSail already has 648 satellites in low-earth orbit and has agreements in place with Kazakhstan and Brazil, with plans to expand to 15,000 satellites by 2030. These new entrants in the low-earth orbit satellite internet industry will pressure Starlink to offer cheaper and better services…

    A competitor could benefit from anti-Musk political sentiment. However, if there is a more general anti-USA sentiment, Bezos could suffer along with Musk.

  10. Reginald Selkirk says

    Industrial Waste Is Turning Into Rock in Just Decades, Study Suggests

    The geological processes that create rocks usually take place over thousands if not millions of years. With the help of a coin and a soda can tab, researchers have identified rocks in England that formed in less than four decades. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cause is human activity.

    Researchers from the University of Glasgow’s School of Geographical and Earth Sciences discovered that slag (a waste product of the steel industry) formed a new type of rock in West Cumbria in 35 years—at most. As detailed in a study published April 10 in the journal Geology, the researchers claim to be the first to fully document and date a complete “rapid anthropoclastic rock cycle” on land: a significantly accelerated rock cycle that incorporates human-made materials. They suggest that this phenomenon is likely harming ecosystems and biodiversity at similar industrial waste locations around the world.

    “When waste material is first deposited, it’s loose and can be moved around as required. What our finding shows is that we don’t have as much time as we thought to find somewhere to put it where it will have minimal impact on the environment–instead, we may have a matter of just decades before it turns into rock, which is much more difficult to manage,” co-author Amanda Owen said in a university statement.

    During the 19th and 20th centuries, Derwent Howe in West Cumbria hosted heavy iron and steel industries. The 953 million cubic feet (27 million cubic meters) of slag generated by the factories turned into cliffs along the coastline, where strange formations along the human-made cliffs caught Owen and her colleagues’ attention, according to the statement.

    By analyzing 13 sites along the coast, the researchers concluded that Derwent Howe’s slag contains deposits of calcium, magnesium, iron, and manganese. When exposed to seawater and air through coastal erosion, these reactive elements create natural cements such as brucite, calcite, and goethite—the same ones that bind natural sedimentary rocks together over thousands to millions of years…

  12. JM says

    @3 rorschach:

    When this is all over in a few decades, the USA needs to write a new constitution and restore public education, or it will just be another failed state. And until then, we’re all in trouble.

    The underlying problem that needs fixed is the election system that forces a two party system on the country. Some type of proportional representation in the House of Representatives, a better system for the Senate and Presidential elections by Instant Runoff Voting is what the country needs to really fix election and government representation problems.

  13. birgerjohansson says

    I have mentioned it so often that you probably are sick of it, but a reform of the supreme court must be first on the agenda in 2028 if the Democrats get the presidency and congress.

    If one of the old crooks dies before the senate shifts, Trump will appoint a new judge. So a Dem presidency & congress majority must in that situation be prepared to extend the supreme court with four seats. This is an existential issue, and fuck the Dem veterans who are scared of doing what it takes.
    Primaries are your friends.

  14. beholder says

    WAKE UP.

    Well, that didn’t last long. Not if your ideas for how to fix the situation we’re in is to elect people like Pritzker, Buttigieg, or Pelosi 2.0 AOC.

    When Mona Eltahawy said white people have a delusional amount of confidence in their government and institutions and that they are childishly naive in believing that institutions will save from autocratic power, she was talking about this.

  15. John Morales says

    When Mona Eltahawy said white people have a delusional amount of confidence in their government and institutions and that they are childishly naive in believing that institutions will save from autocratic power, she was talking about this.

    Are you telling people you are not a white person?

    (It ain’t institutions, it’s specific heroic people!)

  17. Silentbob says

    For example, “men are responsible for 90% of sexual assault” is not a claim that if a person is a man, they are responsible for 90% of sexual assaults.

    Are you genuinely so stupid you don’t understand that, or just pretending to be stupid?

  18. brightmoon says

    I used to live in AOC’s district and voted for her the first time she ran . I’m still proud that I did even though they’ve changed the voting district an I’m no longer able to vote for her. Note, I didn’t move THEY changed the voting district. Almost everyone in her old district is Black or Latino. She still won re-election!

Leave a Reply