Say Gay

And then say gay again

How is it possible for one person to have this much money?

• 678,000 jobs were added in February and the unemployment rate fell to 3.8%. This is on top of the 6.4 million and 467,000 added in 2021 and January 2022 respectively. The media will continue to focus on inflation and gas prices (about which more later) without explaining how the first is not in President Biden’s control—inflation is on the rise worldwide and the reasons for it are, according to the Pew Research Center, unique. These include the “continuing disruptions in global supply chains amid the coronavirus pandemic; turmoil in the labor markets; the fact that today’s prices are being measured against prices during last year’s COVID-19-induced shutdowns; and strong consumer demand after local economies were reopened.”

  It would be really helpful if the media would explain to people why inflation is worse than it’s been in forty years instead of acting like it’s the only thing that matters and will torpedo Joe Biden’s presidency.

• Kamala Harris, our first Black, female, and Indian-American vice-president, traveled to Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 57th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Harris spoke at the Edmund Pettus bridge, where, in 1965, hundreds of Black Americans marched towards Montgomery to demand voting rights and were beaten with billy clubs and attacked with tear gas by law enforcement. In her opening remarks Harris said,

  “In a moment of great uncertainty, those marches pressed forward and they crossed. We must do the same. We must lock our arms and march forward. We will not let setbacks stop us. We know that honoring the legacy of those who marched then demands that we continue to push Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation.”

  It is a bitter irony that voting rights are in greater jeopardy now than they’ve been since the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. The tactics have changed but the goal is the same: to keep as many people of color from voting as possible. Today we have an illegitimate Supreme Court upholding racist gerrymandering,

  attempts in almost every state to legalize even more extreme levels of voter suppression, and a trend towards voter subversion such as allowing legislatures to interfere with non-partisan election officials.

• Bill Barr’s book One Damn Thing After Another is being published today (don’t buy it). Last week he has commenced his book tour. The book itself is a cynical attempt to rewrite Barr’s role in the Trump administration, to paint him as some kind of behind-the-scenes hero who did everything he could to protect democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. The purpose of the book tour is to rehabilitate Barr’s reputation. Major news outlets seem more than willing to oblige. Hosts like Lester Holt treat Barr like a reasonable and reputable person worthy of respect—except for that one time when he totally undermined the Mueller report. The pushback has been minimal, most of the questions toothless.

  Barr was the worst attorney general in modern times twice. Don’t forget that during his tenure as AG for George H.W. Bush he was instrumental in orchestrating the Iran-Contra cover-up. During the Trump administration he gutted the DOJ’s civil rights division, dismissed claims of voter suppression, ignored the increasing threat of white supremacist domestic, and sanctioned the violent suppression of peaceful Black Lives Matters protests which he claimed, falsely, were not peaceful. But sure, let’s give this guy plenty of airtime to promote his book, his lies, and the completely fictional idea that he is a decent man worthy of our respect.

  In addition to being despicable, Barr is also an arrogant narcissist. He revealed who he really is to the those who perhaps haven’t been paying attention. When asked if he would vote for Donald in 2024—the man whose actions on January 6th Barr condemned as a "betrayal of his office and supporters," who Barr knows is deliberately lying about voter fraud, and whom he describes as a vindictive, temper-tantrum throwing toddler—he said yes.

• As the March 11th deadline to avoid (another) government shutdown fast approaches, a group of Republican senators is threatening to hold up desperately needed aid to Ukraine citing the Democrat’s “excessive spending” and “vaccine mandates.” And even more Republicans object to providing more Coronavirus aid.

• In his first State of the Union speech President Biden said, “Like so many anti-transgender attacks proliferating in states across the country, the [Texas governor Abbot’s] actions callously threaten to harm children and their families just to score political points. These actions are terrifying many families in Texas and beyond. And they must stop.”

  Biden was referring to the order by Abbot that state child welfare officials and “members of the public” report parents of transgender children who are receiving gender-affirming care. This followed the release of a non-binding legal opinion from Texas Attorney General (and alleged criminal) Ken Paxton that gender-affirming care constitutes child abuse.

  A judge ordered a temporary halt into the investigation of the parents of a transgender child who are suing the state (operative word “temporary”) but declined to stop state investigations into the families of other children.

  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been ordered by Biden to increase efforts to help trans youth and their families in Texas.

• Gov. Ron DeSantis’ spokeswoman is as horrible and inhumane as he is. Christina Pushaw recently referred to the dangerous and discriminatory Florida bill that prohibits "classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity “as the “Anti-Grooming Bill.” “If you’re against the Anti-Grooming Bill,” she said, “you are probably a groomer or at least you don’t denounce the grooming of 4-to-8-year-old children.” The implication is that anybody who opposes the bill is a pedophile. (For anybody claiming that that is not what she implied, I would ask what you think somebody who “grooms 4-to-8-year-old children” is.)

  Proving once again that we don’t deserve Gen-Z, hundreds of students at Florida high school staged a massive walk-out in protest.

  UPDATE: The Florida state senate just passed the bill 22-17 with all Democrats and only two Republicans voting against it.

• We live in a world not only where someone can amass a fortune of $600 million but one where a single human being can be so mind-bogglingly wealthy that he can spend $600 million dollars on one thing and still be mind-bogglingly wealthy. This strikes me as being at the root of many of our problems especially since the issue of high gas prices is being used by a cudgel against the Biden administration. If we paid people a living wage an extra 50 cents per gallon at the pump wouldn’t break them.

  In related “what is it with rich people and obnoxious boats?” news, Jeff Bezos, whose $500 million sailing yacht is being built in Alblasserdam, is paying the city of Rotterdam to dismantle an historic bridge because that’s the only way the boat can reach the open sea. You’d think somebody with that much money would be able to pay people enough to plan ahead better.

UNDER THE RADAR AND ON THE HORIZON

• Almost 8,500 Americans died from COVID-19 last week.

• Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that the United States and its allies are exploring the possibility of banning Russian oil imports. While the White House considers executive action, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House will proceed with a vote on a Russian oil ban this week.

  For those of us who work at home, live in cities with accessible public transportation, or are well off, it is easy to say that paying higher gas prices is the least we can do to aid the Ukrainians. But we need to find a way to off-set the increasing cost of gas—which will have an immediate and dire effect on the poor and working people who have to travel long distances to work. One way would be to reinstate the child tax credit that was allowed to expire by all 50 Republicans in the Senate with an assist from West Virginia Democrat Joe Manchin (see below). Another would be to approve the aforementioned package for Coronavirus aid. But the Republicans have a plan: Blame Biden for not doing more to help Ukraine—like banning imports of Russian oil; when Biden does ban such imports, blame him for increases in gas prices; do everything in their power to prevent the federal government from helping people defray the costs of higher gas prices; blame Biden some more.

  Also, a reminder that if all Americans made a living wage they would be able to ride out a few months of having to pay higher gas prices without suffering.

• In the wake of the egregious SCOTUS decision that allowed the draconian anti-choice law in Texas to go into effect and in anticipation of upcoming Supreme Court decisions that will likely erode the right to choose even further, Senate Democrats introduced a bill that would protect abortion rights by codifying them into federal law.

  The bill failed 46-48 and both Susan Collins, senator from Maine, and Lisa Murkowski, senator from Alaska, voted against it despite their allegedly being long-time supporters of abortion rights.

  Planned Parenthood clinics in neighboring states have seen an 800% increase in patients which has led to long delays. As a clinic administrator in Louisiana put it, “We at one point in time considered ourselves specialists in termination of early pregnancies,” she said. “We are seeing very few early pregnancies these days … because it's taking so long for everyone to get in.” Louisiana law prohibits abortions after 22 weeks.

• The child tax credit, which had lifted millions of children out of poverty, expired in January. Senator Joe Manchin, Democrat of West Virginia—one of the top ten poorest states in the country--refused to vote to extend. He wanted to add a work credit for parents and was deeply concerned that parents would just use the money to support their drug habits. Of course, without his vote or the vote of any Senate Republicans, the credit ended and ten million children fell back into poverty.

  

  Joe Manchin sits with Republicans at the State of the Union.

  Democrats recently announced they haven’t given up, which is commendable. But at this point it’s hard to see Manchin changing his mind. He’s made it clear—he just doesn’t care.

• Texas is in stiff competition with Florida to see which state can be the most dystopian. In the case of voter suppression, Texas is leading:

  The U.S. Department of Justice is suing Texas in federal court because its new voting laws "will disenfranchise eligible Texas citizens who seek to exercise their right to vote [including] voters with limited English proficiency, voters with disabilities, elderly voters, members of the military who are deployed and American citizens who are out of the country.”

  Part of the fallout from the law, which includes new voter ID restrictions, is that thousands of mail-in ballots cast in the recent primaries have been rejected.

  “Thousands of mail-in ballots have been rejected across the state as voters and election officials work under new voter ID restrictions that have caused headaches that many Democrats consider voter suppression efforts.”

  According to The New York Times, “30 percent of absentee ballots were rejected in the state’s most populous counties. In 2020, the statewide rejection rate was less than 1 percent.”

  Early voting in Arizona has existed for 30 years. Arizona Republicans, however, cannot grapple with the fact that Donald lost in 2020 so they are seeking to have early voting outlawed.

  This is the only strategy the Republican Party has—legalize voter suppression and voter subversion. It seems ludicrous on its face but they’re not going to stop trying. And we can’t let them succeed.

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