Sorry for no update yesterday.
Today, Deadline ran a lengthy profile of Rashida Tlaib. I don’t know her well, but I’ve seen her out and about from time to time, and my impression is of a woman who feels things strongly, who makes mistakes, who cries a lot but laughs twice as much, and generally is about as different from the popular caricature as chalk is from cheese. Again, I don’t know her, but this struck me as about right:
Tlaib projects an unusual combination of toughness and vulnerability, equally unafraid to shout or cry. She blends a Quixotic quality with a mixture of street savvy and the wide-eyed wonder of a newcomer to the national circle of power.
But this was the passage that stuck with me, about a local talk-radio host who has made her a Thing:
Locally, many of these cheap shots come from Frank Beckmann, a radio talk-show host on WJR (760-AM).
In early November, painting her as an anti-Semite, Beckmann said Tlaib “gets this warm feeling in her heart when she thinks about the Holocaust.” Later, he smeared her after a Middle Eastern community activist was charged in Hamtramck with sexual assault of a mentally disabled student outside a school.
“We’re still waiting for words from Rashida Tlaib,” Beckmann snarled. “Did you know about this, Rashida? Why didn’t you stop it?”
The accused was a politically active man who was pictured on Facebook with many Detroit-area elected officials. But Beckmann stressed a photo of him with Tlaib.
Alluding to the oral sex charge, Beckmann taunted Tlaib by describing the photograph.
“Almost cheek-to-cheek,” Beckmann said. “Lip-to-lip with him.”
People? I can’t imagine doing this for a living. I don’t care how much money they give you. “A warm feeling in her heard when she thinks about the Holocaust?” Someone thought that up, someone test-marketed in the fevered confines of his skull, and then sent it out of his mouth, in front of a microphone.
Ah, well. I have been known to refer to FLOTUS as the first sex worker, so maybe it’s just my point of view. I’d still hate that job. Talk radio is awful, but entirely predicted social media, when you think about it.
As you can see, I’m pretty much out of gas. Slept badly last night, determined not to do so tonight.
Bloggage? Impeachment, I guess. The links will be overtaken by events as soon as I post them, so I won’t.
Alan Stamm said on December 16, 2019 at 9:29 pm
Speaking of the I-word, a Southeast Michiganian who’s far more uplifting than that radio cheap-shooter also is quoted Monday.
“In the national security world, we are trained to make hard calls, even if they are unpopular –– if we believe the security of the country is at stake. I will be voting yes on both articles of impeachment,” says first-term Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat elected in a district that guy carried.
“There are some decisions in life that have to be made based on what you know in your bones is right. And this is one of those times.”
She tells The New York Times: “If this district sees fit to elect someone else, then I will accept that and walk away with my head held high.”
Profile in courage.
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Dexter Friend said on December 16, 2019 at 9:38 pm
Frank Beckmann was a great M football radio sportscaster, following the incomparable Bob Ufer. As a mid-morning studio host, an insufferable rightwing worse-than-curmudgeon. So much a Neanderthal ass-wipe I stopped even trying to listen, and don’t know if he’s still on-air these days or maybe just a fill-in like Warren Pierce was for decades.
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Dexter Friend said on December 16, 2019 at 9:41 pm
Those fucking Trump assholes at the Slotkin town hall were rude and obnoxious. They make me sick.
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alex said on December 16, 2019 at 9:56 pm
I’m surprised Beckmann hasn’t been yanked off the air for that Holocaust cheap shot. And yet people get in trouble just for calling Melania what she really is.
Cheers for Elissa Slotkin. And for the staffers who walked out on that party pooper from New Jersey. And for anyone who has the courage to stand their ground in these times. I’m done being polite in the company of Republicans and I hope all of you are too.
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alex said on December 16, 2019 at 11:16 pm
A poignant read on impeachment from an entirely unexpected angle:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-battle-for-trumpisms-next-generation/2019/12/16/2a28300a-2021-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html
Make sure you get to the last graf because it’s the most resonant of all.
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Suzanne said on December 17, 2019 at 9:13 am
I am tail end Boomer. Much of Trumpism is the inability of so many Boomers to understand the US differently from what we learned in elementary school. White (mostly) Boomers worked hard and helped forge the country into a superpower after WWII but in many ways, have not progressed intellectually past 5th grade. We learned the American Exceptionalism Manifest Destiny version of the USA without a hint of irony. In my personal experience, most of my generation can’t get beyond that. Reality is now hitting them upside the head, so they retreat into the Fox News bubble where the US is still their version of it and they discount any information that might make them think otherwise.
But I think you already know all this.
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Deborah said on December 17, 2019 at 11:40 am
When you travel abroad you learn that the US isn’t that exceptional in a lot of ways. I am a patriotic American but not blindly.
Walked 7.5 miles in Paris today, it’s raining now at 5:30pm so time to stop. We went to 2 Christmas markets and an Italian restaurant for lunch because I had a hankering for pasta. I can tell you that Italian wine is expensive in France and why not, when France has its own fantastic wine why wouldn’t they tax the heck out of their competition.
Our last full day in France is tomorrow (Wednesday), it’s been a grand trip. Tomorrow we have to figure out how to get to the airport for Thursday morning. More anxiety about the strike, that has not been a fun part of the experience.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on December 17, 2019 at 1:00 pm
Suzanne, we were the last to be shaped by this, which turns out to be more problematic than any of us might have thought.
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/91uR6Wa-7xL.jpg
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Deborah said on December 17, 2019 at 1:14 pm
I think this is laudable https://lincolnproject.us/news/the-urgency-of-defeating-trump-falls-to-all-of-us/?fbclid=IwAR3SXUsaA_mpDqubSIxLeuF_6WvQxuVm8lC-d_tA6tCEBJXRErZrh4mCO0Q
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Little Bird said on December 17, 2019 at 4:43 pm
So I attended a protest in Santa Fe today, an impeach trump thing. It was maybe 26° and my toes are still recovering. It was along the busiest intersection in town. Most people honked and gave us thumbs up. There were a few thumbs down, several middle fingers and one guy who looked like Wilfred Brimely with more hair who damn near got out of his car to fight us. He kept bellowing “I fought in a real war” which was a bit confusing.
I think turn out would have been better if it was even just ten degrees warmer.
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beb said on December 18, 2019 at 1:30 am
There was an article which talked about the danger freshmen Democrats from districts Trump carried in 2016 of vooting for impeachment. This strikes has the exact opposite of the reality. Why would a Dem get elected in the Republican district except as a vote against Trump. Therefore voting for impeachment would be precisely what the constituents of those districts wants.
The media, especially the New York Times (or as some people call it, the FTFNYT) seem to be in the tank for the Republicans. Saying the two parties can’t agree on anything whitewashes the fact that one party is nucking futz and the other is reality based. Of late I’ve becomes irritated by how evening news reported will tell us what Democrats have said then show several clips of Republicans saying just the opposite. Why not show the Dems saying the things they said and report that Republicans disagree. Why give more time to the Republicans lying?
Charlie Beckman…The more racist and sexist he becomes the higher his rating will go, just like Limbaugh, O’Reilly and Hannity. Just like the algoryhtmn for Youtube recommendations that seems to push content that is more and more extreme. It gets the clicks but it’s morally wrong as well.
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Dexter Friend said on December 18, 2019 at 2:40 am
We oldsters have total detailed recall when asked where we were when we heard about JFK and Bobby, Martin, Medgar, X. I also remember exactly where I was when I heard through my headset radio , “William Jefferson Clinton, President of the United States of America, is IMPEACHED!” It was about 11:00 AM on a Saturday , and I was listening to Fort Wayne Public Radio. I was driving a forklift over rough floors and I could stand on that same place as accurate as a satellite coordinate right now. Today, shortly, Trump will be impeached. I will now set my dvr so as not to miss it; Tuesday’s televised procedures were so boring , with constant obscure rules being read and lawyer gibberish being bandied about,I had to leave the room. McConnell and that Collins goober and Lindsey Graham and Trump himself, with his crazed letter to Pelosi clearly indicate this republican collection are collectively off their goddam rocker. Fuck all of them. ~ Tonight Carla Lee and I noticed ambulances and cops all over my street around 9:PM. We entered our drive and a cop came running toward my car. I was flashing instantly: active shooter? Nope…cop wanted to know if I knew “his next of kin”. One of the renters next door had expired. I guessed they needed to break down a door as firemen arrived and a stretcher was wheeled in through a side door. I did not watch the corpse being rolled out. Suicide? Physical problem? Murder? Maybe I’ll buy a local paper and find out in a couple days.
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alex said on December 18, 2019 at 7:09 am
Our doltish former congressman admits that the Clinton impeachment was an unwarranted and purely partisan exercise in an effort to cast the current one in the same light:
https://journalgazette.net/news/local/indiana/20191218/souder-sees-parallels-with-clinton
His only regret, I’m sure, is that he didn’t get busted for sexual misbehavior in the Trump era instead of Bush II, now that Republicans have dropped the pretense that they give a shit.
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Suzanne said on December 18, 2019 at 9:01 am
Alex, I read that piece this morning and had the same reaction: Oh, so Souder admits all these years later that the impeachment stemmed from the GOP just plain finding Clinton despicable, not because he really did anything impeachable.
But then, Souder is the man who thought his being caught in a “delicate situation” in the back seat of a car was a good thing because it led to more people watching the abstinence videos he made with the woman who was with him in the back seat of the car. Logic seems to not have been strong with him.
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Peter said on December 18, 2019 at 9:41 am
It’s a shame that Madame Speaker is far too professional and reserved that she won’t give Trump’s tantrum letter that response it deserves, because this would be the perfect time to send out an updated version of the famous Cleveland Browns letter:
Dear Mr. President,
Attached is a letter I received on December 17, 2019. I feel that you should be aware that some asshole is signing your name to stupid letters.
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Jeff Borden said on December 18, 2019 at 10:16 am
Either the Post or the NYT has reported the letter was guided by our favorite Jewish white supremacist and soon-to-be-married to Mike Dense’s chief flack Eva Braun Jr., Stephen Miller. For a Duke grad, Miller ain’t much of a writer or thinker.
While it’s hard to predict how this all will play out, we can take pleasure in knowing the first sentence of the Orange King’s obituary will include the word “impeach.”
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Peter said on December 18, 2019 at 10:22 am
I’d prefer that the first sentence would include “convicted”, or better yet, “incarcerated”.
Even so, I’m happy to know that he’s making himself almost as miserable as me.
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Brian stouder said on December 18, 2019 at 12:04 pm
Michigan congresswoman Slotkin is a forthright, dedicated, admirable woman, who the voters there may fire…but hopefully they will instead realize they have a genuine keeper, in her
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Deborah said on December 18, 2019 at 1:33 pm
I will be reading the news on my phone tonight to see how the impeachment is going, but I’ll probably miss the actual vote because of the time difference.
Today we walked 10.3 miles in Paris. We went back to Le Viaduc des Arts because we liked it so much when my friend from Chicago who lives here now took us there on the first leg of our trip. This time we walked above it on a linear park that used to be an elevated rail road, like the Highline in NYC only the Paris one came first https://m.yelp.fr/biz/le-viaduc-des-arts-paris, there are very cool shops inside the arches on the ground level. Then we walked to Place de Republique where we had not been before. It’s in a less high end part of Paris and there had been violence there a couple of weeks ago by the yellow vests. Everything seemed calm now.
We had our last Paris meal of the trip at Cafe de Flore again, a favorite, a former hang out of Hemingway and his gang as well as de Beaouvoir and Sartre etc, lots of tourists go there because the ambiance is wonderful and the people watching is the best.
We have to leave in a cab for the airport tomorrow morning 4 hours before our flight, bad traffic because of the strike.
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Pam said on December 18, 2019 at 5:51 pm
Feeling low? What do you suppose annoys a one month old this much? Her parents said the memes are the best.
https://www.nbc4i.com/news/local-news/westerville-baby-breaks-the-internet-with-mean-mugging-newborn-photos/
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Deborah said on December 18, 2019 at 8:56 pm
Impeached! I happened to wake up at nearly 3am in Paris.
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Deborah said on December 19, 2019 at 2:25 am
Wasn’t Dingell popular in MI? Seems stupid for Trump to be critical on top of cruelly smearing his widow. No bottom.
I’m distracting myself While in a cab on our way to Charles De Gaulle airport. Traffic is ungodly at 8:22am in Paris.
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Deborah said on December 19, 2019 at 4:47 am
At the airport in the American Airlines lounge. Some asshole was on his phone as loud as he could be. My husband went over to him and put his finger to his lips in the “shhhh” gesture. The guy went ape shit and confronted my husband asking where is the sign that designates the space is a quiet place. I was worried that the guy was going to hit my husband but he (the loud mouth) just huffed back to his seat and banged his bags around.
Now there’s another jerk on the opposite side of the lounge talking on his phone so loudly I can hear every single word as clearly as if he were right next to me. Rude. Both of the loudmouths are white American guys. What is up with that?
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Suzanne said on December 19, 2019 at 6:33 am
Another rat jumping ship
https://www.axios.com/mark-meadows-re-election-retirement-2020-fcb33cc1-acd5-4ecb-aaff-85b318aaff3b.html
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David C said on December 19, 2019 at 8:46 am
Loud assholes gotta loud asshole and they’re usually quick to accuse anyone within earshot of listening in. On our first day in our current house, our neighbors were having a screaming match in their driveway in front of God and everybody. On our small urban lot, we were just a few feet away and I was installing shelves in our bedroom closet. She saw me through the window and yelled at me to quit eavesdropping. I would have rather been anywhere else, but I had things I needed to get done and wasn’t about to withdraw because they can’t be discreet. I’m glad the ugly American backed down, Deborah. Do Americans traveling abroad still sew Canadian flags on their backpacks? If I was traveling I would. I don’t remotely feel American anymore.
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Peter said on December 19, 2019 at 10:13 am
I think Jeffrey Toobin on CNN had the comment of the day: “Let’s just remember the reason why Donald Trump has been impeached: because he deserved it.”
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Jakash said on December 19, 2019 at 1:02 pm
A swell day to check in on Mr. Burns’ front-page round-up, folks!
http://jcbd.com/newsp.php
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Dorothy said on December 19, 2019 at 6:12 pm
Did I tell you all about last December when we flew to NYC for four days? At the Dayton airport this yutz was talking very loudly during multiple phone calls. He called his son to say some goodbyes, talked about things he was leaving for him via a friend (the yutz, we came to Iearn, was moving to the Philippines and getting married apparently). He called his bank or credit card company about some issue and was loudly complaining about some fees he had to pay for something. He gave out his email address to verify who he was when talking to the bank. The jerk used an email address proclaiming he was some kind of hero in the military. Of course he did. Then he called the fiancé and lovey-dovey talked to her and her young child. It was so over the top and disgusting, so naturally I had to promise myself that when I got home I was going to send him an email telling him what an asshole he was and how he really needed to stop having such loud, personal conversations in airport gate areas. He was astounded – asked how I got his email address. “Because you screamed it loud enough to be heard in Cincinnati!” I think I replied. Assholes are everywhere….
So now today I was at a medical appointment, waiting for my name to be called. I was crocheting on a scarf for my granddaughter. It was only about 4” long at that point. His wife was with him – they looked to be in their mid to late 70’s. Wife was the patient (likely a cancer patient because it was the cancer center. I don’t have cancer but I was there for a blood related issue). So Wife picked up the front page of today’s paper and read the headlines, moaning “What’s going on in this country?!” Husband: “Put that down, don’t worry about it, it’s not going to be anything to worry about!” I’m sure I raised my eyebrows but didn’t say anything. I’m already feeling pissed that he’s telling her how to react to something. Then he looked at me. “Is that sweater your knitting going to have cables?!” he cheerily asked. “Well, I’m not knitting – I’m crocheting. I only have one needle. And it’s a scarf, not a sweater.” I didn’t have an edge to my voice, just smiled and said that to him. Then a few minutes later Wife starts moaning again about what the impeachment means. “Nothing! It’s going to go to the Senate where the majority are Republicans and they’ll overturn the impeachment!” Now I could not stay silent. “You cannot overturn an impeachment. The Senate will likely vote against it if a trial happens, but it is not an overturning – it’s sort of a nullification of it.” OH he said. (I hope that was right but I had to knock him down a peg or two.) Then another five minutes went by and he announces “Only three Presidents have been impeached: Nixon, Clinton and now Trump”. AND of course I said “Nixon was not impeached. He resigned from office before he could be impeached. The third one was Andrew Johnson.” OH he says. Then the nurse came and called my name and I think they were thrilled to watch me leave the waiting room. Sheesh….
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Deborah said on December 19, 2019 at 6:17 pm
Home sweet home, back in Chicago, unpacked and sorted through 17 days of mail (lots of holiday cards). It took a lot less time to get through customs at O’Hare this time for some reason.
It’s midnight to my jet lagged self even though it’s really a little after 5pm here in Chicago. I have to get up early tomorrow for an 8:30am eye dr appointment, why did I do that to myself?
On Tuesday we go to California to spend some time with my husband’s granddaughter, then I’m spending the month of January in New Mexico.
We may be headed back to France in March for that design project I mentioned before. I’ll tell you guys about it sometime when I’m more coherent.
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