Welcome to The Now

  On all three counts . As others talk about / react to this, I had one thought that I didn't see elsewhere: things happen for a reason. See Keith Ellison is currently the AG for Minnesota. Before his current job but after his stint as a congressman, Ellison had a shot of being the DNC Chair. The Establishment Democrats had other plans, and Ellison had to settle for the position of Deputy Chair...which didn't mean much in terms of influencing policy. I remember seeing Ellison in that role and thinking how his talents were being wasted. He should have been the Chair, leading the DNC into a more progressive era ! I realize now how short-sighted (and selfish) I was. Ellison needed to be there in order to get him back to Minnesota State politics, so he could become AG and help design a case to convict someone who at at the very least, demonstratively abused his power, and who at the most committed outright murder. I don't think anyone of the Tom Perez mold of Democrat would ...

  Guess all of that "Stop the Steal" and contesting the certification was for naught : Former President Trump's personal lawyers on Monday urged a federal judge to find that a New York state law on congressional tax return requests no longer pertains to the former president because he's out of office. "While the TRUST Act is not the clearest statute, the best reading is that it does not apply to former Presidents," Trump's lawyers wrote in a court filing. New York in 2019 enacted a law, called the TRUST Act, that allows the chairs of Congress's tax committees to request public officials' state tax returns. Trump then filed a lawsuit in an effort to prevent the House Ways and Means Committee from obtaining his state tax returns.

  What did he do to, "reimagine policing and public safety in this country?" What bills were signed into law, what executive orders were issued? And even if he did push something that was overwritten by Trump (something Trump was prone to do) would Obama mention that? Wouldn't he say, "We have to go back to the effective policies that were enacted during my administration?" Remember, this guy had an army of volunteers who helped get him elected, and he left them on the White House lawn as soon as the inauguration was over. Wouldn't they have come in handy in enacting police reform? In the end, this is all Obama has: optimistic platitudes. He tends to oscillate between this and squashing and true movements from the Left (both of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaigns, the NBA wanting to boycott the 2020-2021 Season over George Floyd's murder, etc.)

Apple doesn't want you to be able to fix your own iPhone .   Honeyeaters look for mentors to teach them mating songs. " Evicted and homeless due to the pandemic ." With so many people pushing for opening schools, you'd think there'd be a corresponding push to vaccinate teachers .

 

I'll be waiting patiently for an answer to this one.   

  The trial regarding Derek Chauvin , the former officer accused of ending George Floyd's life, began yesterday. People are understandably upset, some even saying that the America is on trial.  Meanwhile, Democrats in Congress are touting the Covid Rescue Plan ,  despite the fact that while helpful , it does not go far enough, does not help as many people as it claims and is mostly temporary .  In other words: the problems with social justice should be addressed wholesale and quickly, but the problems with economic justice require incremental adjustments at a slow pace. Whatever! Both are important and often times linked. The lawmakers who protect police from facing justice for being brutal to black people (and other minorities) are the same lawmakers keeping the wealthy at the top of the food chain at the expense of the working class.  MLK was always a thorn in the side of the powerful when he was arguing for civil rights, but once he started talking about eco...

 Sure they can fire people who want better working conditions during a pandemic or sabotage workers in Alabama who want to form the first union that the company would have in the US, but don't you dare claim that conditions are so bad employees have to pee in bottles !

 Graham Elwood and Dave Anthony talk about the pros and cons of re-opening schools early. Who knew doctors aren't testing asymptomatic children on a regular basis, or that parents would rather send their children back to school than deal with their bad behavior?

  Very true . So, the solution to the socio-economic problems caused by a pandemic that was exacerbated by Donald Trump's time in office is to bring the country back to a time where citizens were so frustrated over their situation that they voted Trump into office? It's almost like the Democrats want to create a GOP boogeyman to run against instead of championing popular policies.  On a personal note: can we get Richard Wolff, Chris Hedges and Cornel West in a room together? For two hours at least?