If I’d stayed in Indiana, this dipshit would be my representative:
Have we ever seen a President attack and malign the free press like Joe Biden has??
— Jim Banks (@RepJimBanks) January 24, 2022
Nice ratio, dude.
Sorry I missed Wednesday; we went to a show Tuesday night. Courtney Barnett, a lanky Australian singer-songwriter. I got strong Lucinda Williams vibes from her, minus most of the country feel. They checked vaccine cards and everyone wore a mask, so I figure: Shrug. I badly need some time out of the house, not just Tuesday but some more days, too. Maybe the cold snap will break soon, although the one thing about an extended subfreezing stretch: When it finally gets above 20 degrees it feels almost balmy. Wendy and I went for a walk and it was nearly enjoyable.
So. I think I mentioned the sex scandal that broke a couple weeks ago, about the former Michigan Speaker of the House. He’s a big evangelical Christian? Turned out he was banging his sister-in-law? And it started when she was 15? And now there are big money questions? Yeah, that guy. Another shoe dropped today: His dad’s a p.o.s., too:
Rusty Chatfield, the father of former state House speaker Lee Chatfield and superintendent of the Northern Michigan Christian Academy, did not report allegations of unwanted sexual touching last year between two 11-year-old students, according to a police report from the Tuscarora Township Police Department obtained by City Pulse.
Instead of calling local law enforcement or the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ child abuse reporting line, Chatfield brought the accused 11-year-old student to his office, the report showed. The boy admitted to the sexual touching — which included “the inner thigh, the penis and the buttocks” over the clothing, according to the police report.
Chatfield made the boy apologize to the victim, the police report said.
Then, Chatfield ordered the two 11-year-old boys to be separated at all times in the school and advised the alleged victim to physically “beat up” the accused if he touched him again, according to an interview documented in the police report between authorities and Chatfield.
And that, friends, is why as far as we’ve come with gay acceptance, guys like this will never let us get all the way.
Yeesh, what a week, and next week looks no better. Time to turn in early and just read a book for a while.
Jason T. said on January 27, 2022 at 9:28 pm
In case you missed it, that particular dipshit outdid himself yesterday:
“Joe Rogan is greater than Neil Young”?
Yes, no doubt, people will be quoting Joe Rogan 50 years from now, just as they’re still singing Neil Young songs from the ’60s.
Good God almighty, you think we’ve hit the bottom of the barrel, but then they start scraping through the wood.
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alex said on January 27, 2022 at 10:03 pm
Not sure which is worse, Jim Banks as our Congressman or Mike Braun as our Senator. Those two sound like a Trumpist wet dream of a presidential ticket in the event the Orange One is forbidden to run for office from the federal penitentiary where he deserves to end up.
When I read today that Mark Souder was dying of pancreatic cancer I truly felt lament not only about his personal predicament but over the fact that life under his (and Bill Kristol’s) Authoritarian Lite was a lot more tolerable than this crap.
The conservative movement had a pretty good gig going when it fed the rubes the crumbs from the tables of the rich and they ate it up. Too bad it lost all of its market share to the upstarts who put red meat into the mix and cut out the last trace of principle.
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Sherri said on January 28, 2022 at 12:08 am
The conservatives are already in an uproar over how unqualified Biden’s nominee for SCOTUS will be, because she won’t be a white man. I think he should leak the following short list just to really freak them out:
Angela Davis
Anita Hill
Patrisse Cullors
Nikole Hannah-Jones
Tarana Burke
Oprah Winfrey
The political press will go nuts, and then when the conservatives try to paint the real nominee as some combination of all of the above, maybe they won’t fall for it.
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Dexter Friend said on January 28, 2022 at 1:46 am
J. Michelle Childs
https://trailmix.cc/home/
Jim Clyburn is getting it done.
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David C said on January 28, 2022 at 6:11 am
Courtney Barnett is so good and her songs can be funny as hell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcnIhzaDTd0
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Suzanne said on January 28, 2022 at 7:20 am
Alex, good description of conservatives
“The conservative movement had a pretty good gig going when it fed the rubes the crumbs from the tables of the rich and they ate it up. Too bad it lost all of its market share to the upstarts who put red meat into the mix and cut out the last trace of principle.”
I was one of those rubes getting the crumbs but once the red meat came out, I moved on. It’s sad to see that many of my friends and relatives haven’t and won’t.
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alex said on January 28, 2022 at 7:39 am
I agree with Clyburn that a truly diverse court should include law degrees from schools other than Harvard and Yale, but I don’t think Lady G’s promises can be taken seriously regarding J. Michelle Childs or anything else, not that the Dems need Graham’s vote anyway. I’d put money on it that Graham will cave to the inevitable Tucker Carlson smear campaign that will ensue as payback for the Kavanaugh hearings.
Suzanne, it’s absolutely mind-boggling to think that a congressman like Mark Souder would look comparatively sane, but I’d take him over Banks even though I couldn’t bring myself to vote for either one.
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Scout said on January 28, 2022 at 11:36 am
I see your Jim Banks and raise you a Ron Johnson:
‘In contrast, when asked earlier this week about childcare in this moment when the pandemic has created a severe childcare shortage—a gap Biden’s Build Back Better bill is designed in part to address—Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) made it clear that he saw no such role for government. “People decide to have families and become parents, that’s something they need to consider when they make that choice,” Johnson said. “I’ve never really felt it was society’s responsibility to take care of other people’s children.”’
Excerpt is from today’s Heather Cox Richardson letter. The whole thing is good, but as usual exhausting to contemplate the always uphill battle against the indecency of the GQP and the enabler media.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-27-2022?r=dnmfs&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
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Icarus said on January 28, 2022 at 4:18 pm
thanks to everyone who came up with witty retorts to my job description game. I’m not surprised that the listing is showing that it has been active for over a month.
I thought my contract gig would end today but apparently, I’ve been extended for 8 more weeks. I have mixed feelings about it. Money is money and it is relatively mindless work, but the PM brings about unnecessary drama.
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Julie Robinson said on January 28, 2022 at 5:27 pm
Our own Dorothy retires today, congratulations Dorothy!
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basset said on January 28, 2022 at 7:18 pm
Congratulations indeed!
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Sherri said on January 28, 2022 at 8:19 pm
You’d think that even the most ardent anti-vaxxer and anti-masker would concede that maybe they shouldn’t go out to eat in a restaurant when they have actually tested positive for a highly contagious disease in the middle of a pandemic, but no, Sarah Palin is just that special.
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Deborah said on January 28, 2022 at 10:29 pm
Happy retirement Dorothy, you’ll love it!
Tomorrow my husband goes back to Chicago for business, comes back in a week. LB comes back to NM from CA on Tuesday so I have a couple of days of me time. Getting lots of stuff done.
We got 4-5” of snow last night after a prediction of only about 1”. Precipitation is good around here so no one is complaining.
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Sherri said on January 28, 2022 at 11:59 pm
Robert LaMay was a Washington State Trooper for 22 years who refused to get vaccinated, and as a result, lost his job. In his final shift, he signed off the radio telling Governor Inslee to “kiss my ass.”
Predictably, he has died from Covid, at the age of 50.
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Dexter said on January 29, 2022 at 1:47 am
In just 60 minutes we shall celebrate hitting 0 degrees. Just for 2 hours and then we settle in at about 3F for half a day.
Last night I dreamed I was cycling in a hot as hell Barcelona. Then I woke up.
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Suzanne said on January 29, 2022 at 8:14 am
Below zero here in NE Indiana. Sun is shining but not providing heat. High today? 18 if we are lucky.
Congrats Dorothy on retirement. I worry we won’t have enough money but I can’t wait to retire. I am so tired of dealing with workplace drama and idiocy. At this point in life, I want to just stay home, drink tea, read, bake stuff, and encounter as few people as possible.
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Jeff Borden said on January 29, 2022 at 11:34 am
I guess that Washington State trooper really “owned the libs.” Well-played, jackass. I was unable to find any information about survivors, but I hope this selfish narcissist didn’t leave behind a wife and kids.
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Deborah said on January 29, 2022 at 11:42 am
Here’s something scary: my husband was talking to a young woman the other day, she’s maybe mid forties, and the subject of Japanese internment camps during WWII came up and this college educated woman had never heard of it before. She was shocked that the government sent whole families including kids to those camps. She grew up and still lives in suburban Chicago. Honestly CRT needs to be taught in schools.
The subject of Japanese internment camps came up because they were discussing a former German prisoner of war camp in her suburb that is being turned into a museum.
Also, I recently learned that there used to be an internment camp close to our place in Santa Fe, maybe I already mentioned that here. I don’t know why I was surprised to find that out as they were often in places in the American southwest.
We’ve had a cold spell in northern NM but today’s high will be 46 and sunny. My husband is on his way to Chicago where the high will be 21.
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Little Bird said on January 29, 2022 at 2:38 pm
Was Banks in some kind of coma during the last presidency? Some mental block of said presidency (if so I’m a little bit jealous)?
As for CRT, I’d settle for accuracy in American history classes. With a strong lean into how those events are still shaping today.
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David C said on January 29, 2022 at 2:44 pm
We have some real nuts running for school board here. CTR? Yup. Masks? yup. Can book banning be far behind? A couple of people from this Save Our Schools group won last election. Then reality hit them right between the eyes and they voted for mask mandates in our schools. I don’t believe this second wave will be so wise.
https://oshkoshexaminer.com/challengers-say-oshkosh-school-board-is-out-of-touch-incumbents-defend-their-records-point-to-improvements/
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Julie Robinson said on January 29, 2022 at 3:44 pm
With Banks, I think the term is willful ignorance/arrogance.
One of the books a local county banned is The Kite Runner. Anyone who’s read it know it’s not exactly a gay pride book. If you haven’t, go look it up.
We have a freeze warning tonight and it’s only been in the 50’s these last couple of days. I’m a little amused by reactions, including hysterical TV announcers telling people how to bundle up and cover their plants. Probably in a couple of years I’ll have forgotten how too.
Our son went to a first aid class today that was skewed towards the type of injuries protesters might have. He’s going to buy a few supplies and put them in a backpack so he’s prepared. I guess I think this is a good idea?
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Connie said on January 29, 2022 at 4:03 pm
Julie, big issue with The Kite Runner is rape of a boy.
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Julie Robinson said on January 29, 2022 at 4:54 pm
My point is that it isn’t presented as a positive thing. And since the young male concubine is part of the Afghan culture, I would think the culture warriors here would like that. Mooslims equal bad and all that.
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alex said on January 29, 2022 at 5:00 pm
Banks is an automaton. A fucking robot programmed to say ridiculous shit with a straight face, which in his case is a permanent smirk. And he thinks the rest of us are stupid enough to buy anything he’s selling.
I volunteered for the campaign of a worthy challenger to Banks a couple of years ago and he trounced her. In debates he wouldn’t let her get a word in edgewise and commandeered the whole show by accusing her of being a socialist with a secret radical agenda to destroy America and was just relentless, and what’s scary is that he came across as much more skillful and graceful than Trump while playing essentially the same game.
Trump may go to jail, but this turkey has a career ahead of him and I think he’s even more dangerous because he’s not just stone cold but much better at calculating.
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tajalli said on January 29, 2022 at 5:13 pm
With The Kite Runner, the young boy was not characterized as a concubine or part of his abuser’s family in any way, IIRC. The intense shame and self-loathing he felt was emphasized, as well as its negative impact on his religious faith.
The only book I’ve thought should be banned, and I mentioned it as such to my branch librarian, was by Orson Scott Card. It was so misogynistic as to be outright sadistic pornography and qualified as hate speech against women.
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beb said on January 29, 2022 at 7:16 pm
Just came across this interesting article on Wonkette implying that many of the book banners, mask deniers and CRT opponents are funded and encouraged by anti-public school astro-turfers.
https://www.wonkette.com/school-privatization-crt-masks-parents
Not a lot of evidence in the article but the idea seems to make sense to me.
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alex said on January 29, 2022 at 7:34 pm
beb, there was an article published recently directly linking the Koch brothers to “patriot parents” groups disrupting school board meetings and it’s indeed an astroturf effort. I can’t remember whether it was in the Washington Post or some other publication but it was legit journalism.
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David C said on January 29, 2022 at 7:38 pm
If fucking up public schools is the subject, Betsy DeVos is always right there.
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Jim said on January 29, 2022 at 8:56 pm
tajalli: which Orson Scott Card book? Just curious.
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Dorothy said on January 29, 2022 at 9:13 pm
I was blown away by the gift given to me yesterday at the end of the Friday recital that all Music majors are required to attend. I was there because it was my last day at work. I knew they’d say a few nice things about me but it was a whole ‘nother level of amazing. After the 7 students played or performed, and before they were dismissed for their next class, my boss came out with flowers and a gift bag (an Apple watch!!) and said really, really nice things about me. She said they were going to sing to me and only one song seemed to be the right one. She said when she became Chair 4.5 years ago, SHE was the Dorothy in the department, and I was her Scarecrow, her TinMan, her Cowardly Lion and Wizard all wrapped up together. Then they launched into Somewhere Over the Rainbow and I cried through the whole song. I get filled up just thinking about it while I’m typing! It was truly one of the nicest things I’ve ever experienced. I’ll be basking in the glow of it for a very long time.
Thanks for all your well wishes about retirement. We close on our new house on Monday; we move in on Thursday. We’ve been packing all day and still have lots to do tomorrow – to finish packing up our home office and empty the kitchen. We’re pooped as all get out. One thing for sure – we will both sleep well tonight!
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Suzanne said on January 29, 2022 at 9:42 pm
I have no idea what books are normally taught in middle or high schools these days but a young woman teacher who grew up with my daughter was using The Book Thief for Holocaust Lit in her English class and I questioned that because I thought it was a very poorly written book. All the Light We Cannot See is a far better or Sophie’s Choice.
But truly, any book about the Holocaust by its nature is going to be upsetting and parents need to understand that.
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Deborah said on January 30, 2022 at 9:59 am
Dorothy, what a wonderful experience, made me tear up.
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basset said on January 30, 2022 at 1:04 pm
53rd anniversary of the Beatles’ rooftop concert today, it’s streaming in various locations.
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diane said on January 30, 2022 at 1:56 pm
Congratulations Dorothy! That sounds so lovely.
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tajalli said on January 30, 2022 at 4:35 pm
Congratulations, Dorothy! What a sweet sendoff reflecting the high quality of your social interactions.
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jcburns said on January 30, 2022 at 5:15 pm
Congratulations, Dorothy! I hear those Apple Watches are pretty cool.
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