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Katy Bolger's avatar

Except for magats, do Republicans really want to win by cheating? For what purpose, to what end? I know that their news bubble lies to them but they must feel the effects of Twumpism, they must see the ICE video, they must know how undemocratic the admin's moves are. I was a civics/history high school teacher and I get it that by the time they reach upper grades, some kids have been completely indoctrinated into their parent's worldview but usually, they grow out of it and learn to think for themselves while mostly keeping hold of that worldview. But kids today are exposed to so much, they can clearly see the BS that is being generated by the admin. Do they think Nazism is cool? Fascism is fun? Like Marz, I get nervous at the long shadows.

Judy Fjell's avatar

Your final paragraph is a testimony to the beauty of daily existence. After all the depressing, no debilitating news these days, thank you.

Judy Fjell's avatar

I looked this up to share from my song files . . . Same tune as the Ballad of the MTA. I was living in Corvallis at the time I wrote it and witnessed the removal of the newspaper clipping files from the EPA building. They were taken along with who knows what else in big semi truck trailers to Washington, DC, and shredded.

BALLAD OF THE EPA Lyrics©1982 Judy Fjell (BMI)

1. Well let me tell you the story of a man named Reagan

On a tragic and fateful day

He put the voters in his pockets, kissed the corporations’ asses

Went to work on the EPA

CHORUS: Well, was it ever the same? No, it was never the same

The only thing they kept was the name (and a few employees)

We may writhe forever in industrial pollution, the land that never returned

2. Reagan called down to the hills of Colorado

And found a director named Anne

He said “Environmental zealots are ruining this country,

We’ve gotta come up with a plan” CHORUS

3. They started at the top with some major appointments

From Coors, Bechtel, Chevron and the like

They sent the old guard out for an afternoon of softball

And told the Sierra Club to take a hike CHORUS

4. Then they got down to the real nitty gritty

Of the daily EPA routine

They slashed the budget, shredded research, rewrote pamphlets, censored news briefs

All to make big business look clean CHORUS

5. Now you citizens of this country don’t you think it is a scandal

That Mother Nature has to pay and pay

While the rich get richer thanks to Ronald Reagan

And cooperation from the EPA CHORUS

Bradley  K Monson's avatar

Thanks Mary, (I think) for shining a spotlight on all the world's dysfunction. Its a little hard to take at times, but I know your heart is in the right place. In times like these, it's good to have pets...

Jack's avatar

The New York Times calls it “diplomacy without diplomats,” which feels charitable. How about Vulture Diplomacy? Two skeezy investor types, waiting for Ukraine to die so they can pick over the carcase for profit. What a disgrace to put those two guys forward.

Julie Bannerman's avatar

The last paragraph is beautifully evocative. Our patio gardens were briefly carpeted with white hail last night - not the dusting of snow but still lovely and peaceful after the storm. For sanity alone, we indeed need to “take what we can get”!

Thankfully, Mary won’t let our domestic Trump nightmare eclipse the tragedy in Ukraine. The courage, battlefield creativity and resilience of the Ukrainians are remarkable and heroic and unsustainable over time. It’s abominable that two unqualified emissaries from Trump’s sector of the Epstein class are empowering Putin. Europe is stepping into the breech our betrayal of Ukraine opened, but it’s likely too little, too late. The shame we must bear as Americans.

MAGA traitors are right about one thing: they lose it all if they lose the midterms. Time for us in the resistance to donate strategically and volunteer for pro-democracy candidates and GOTV and/or election protection organizations. Every drop feeds the stream that feeds the river.

Jack McGowan's avatar

With less than 8 months until elections, how can changes to voting rules like voting by mail be enacted?That’s already been confirmed for this cycle here. Or is ICE just going to kidnap voters without red feed caps?

Judy Fjell's avatar

BTW, the Anne of Colorado is Anne Gorsuch, Neal Gorsuch's mother!

Kelly's avatar

I live in Salem right in the middle of the Willamette Valley. We rarely get snow anymore. I would love to have that quiet peace of snow. ❄️