bigtree
bigtree's JournalI really care about the Hatch Act, do you?
I read where Trump's Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows - the man who had twice said publicly that Pres. Obama should "go back to Kenya" - defended SoS Pompeo's use of taxpayer funded travel, security, and other amenities to broadcast an unprecedented partisan, political message to the republican convention, clearly illegal under the Hatch Act, by claiming "Nobody outside of the Beltway really cares" about the law.
https://twitter.com/markknoller/status/1298621787064786944
I do care, in most part, because these are MY tax dollars, and your tax dollars, being used to reelect an incumbent president. Trump's decision to run the republican convention from the People's House isn't just a violation of an arcane law, it's usurping our democracy at the moment where our participation is a primary underpinning of the process; one aspect that we're ostensibly able to independently control.
There's reason consent isn't automatically given at tax time to dip into our pockets to support elections. Participation is the essence of democracy, but without free will associated with our contributions, it's nothing more than election fraud and theft. Trump is treating American voters like we're paying guests to his unreality show; leveling a garden to provide a convention prop for Melania to praise her husband; active-duty military present as Trump performs official duties in a cynical naturalization ceremony...
https://twitter.com/pbump/status/1298590191406526465
This open abuse of the law is yet another attempt by Trump at normalizing his deviancy and criminality, but it's also another massive grift designed to allow the host of the show to walk away with the ultimate prize. The media is tailor-made for this cynical coercion, with hardly a word or acknowledgement from most of these television productions that their slick presentations and impressive backgrounds are actually footage of a crime in operation; an open fleecing of Americans who are the true owners of those historical premises and grounds.
Some media folks are cleaning up with their own justifications for why they don't bother to call out clear violations of law; aside from the fact their coverage benefits them financially. Apparently, for some, you can break the law if 'no one cares.' Consider this:
https://twitter.com/djrothkopf/status/1298601408393097216
Do you 'give a hoot?' I sure do.
https://twitter.com/ltgrusselhonore/status/1298480528048492550
Frog and Toad Tentatively Go Outside After Months In Self-Quarantine
https://twitter.com/mollyesque/status/1298285921285083136“Turtle,” said Frog. “You will have to move over a few inches...”
“The pandemic is fake,” said the turtle. “Wearing a mask makes you sick. This is all a hoax caused by 5G and planned by hospital executives—”
Frog backed away quickly.
“Let’s just go home,” said Frog.
“I am right behind you.” agreed Toad.
full story (cute, funny) : https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/frog-and-toad-tentatively-go-outside-after-months-in-self-quarantine
One pitch from our presidential nominees I'd like to see
...is a vow to immmediately tear down those walls Trump has erected around the People's House.
I want it to be loudly declared to the American people why those walls Trump built are an abomination, as well as an affront to our democracy.
Doug was looking pretty sharp last night in his blue suit and brown leather shoes
...stuff we say all the time about women in politics.
David Crosby: "Pot is like beer and wine. Legalize it dammit then all the young people will vote"
twitter.com/thedavidcrosby/status/1296470704867741702
#KamalaHarrisDay
John Hedgecoth @IowaHedge 1hOn the doors in the heat of an Iowa summer in 2019, they either didn’t know who she was, or they said “oh yeah, she’s in my top 3.” Tonight she joins everyone’s Top 2. #KamalaHarrisDay
https://twitter.com/KamalaHarris/status/1296093846011547650
People magazine, y'all
(photo, Gioncarlo Valentine)
(Jeff Kowalsky)/AFP/Getty
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris' First Joint Interview: 'Audacity' of Partnering & Their 'Modern Family' Values
The Democratic running mates sat down with PEOPLE for this week's issue to talk about what drew them together, how they'll work behind closed doors and more
https://people.com/politics/joe-biden-and-kamala-harris-first-joint-interview/?amp=true&__twitter_impression=true
Trump admin finalized plans Monday to auction off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
https://twitter.com/Yamiche/status/1295350704782147586The move will allow leasing on the 1.6 million-acre coastal plain, the center of a nearly pristine wilderness home to migrating caribou and waterfowl as well as polar bears and foxes that live there year-round. It marks a major step toward reviving fossil fuel development in an area that has been untouched for three decades.
In a statement, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said that his department was following through on the 2017 budget bill that instructed the federal government to conduct oil and gas leasing on the refuge.
In issuing a “record of decision,” officials at the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management concluded that establishing a network of well pads and pipelines would not pose an undue threat to the wildlife that depend on the refuge for survival. The draft plan called for the construction of as many as four airstrips and well pads, 175 miles of roads, vertical supports for pipelines, a seawater-treatment plant and a barge landing and storage site...
read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/08/17/trump-drilling-arctic-national-wildlife-refuge-alaska/
Here's the other remote patch of Alaskan wilderness where the administration plans to expand drilling
https://wapo.st/37nMXAh
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