Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti Move On … Justice for Abby Martin

The Rising, from The Hill, is no longer hosted by Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti. The two made last Friday, May 28, 2021, their final day. They will move on together for an independent program.

I have opted to no longer include The Rising on my “Recommendations.” If the replacement hosts end up being worthy, I will reconsider.

I hope Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti come up with a new program that I can Recommend. (I am optimistic.)

★★★★★

Abby Martin, host of Empire Files, recently won a lawsuit against the State of Georgia on the grounds its anti-BDS law violated her Free Speech and is unconstitutional in accordance to the First Amendment.

This is terrific. And I hope this marks the beginning of its end.

Martin appears as the guest to discuss this necessary victory—and justice—in a recent Tim Dillon Show. (Published Sunday, May 30, 2021, this near-90-minute episode has Martin appear at the mark of 52 minutes and 45 seconds.)

‘LIVE with Roger Waters and Gabor Maté, on Israel/Palestine, Gaza war, music, and more’

The Grayzone regulars Max Blumenthal, Ben Norton, and Aaron Maté having welcomed as their guests, on Friday, May 21, 2021, Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters and Maté’s physician father Gabor Maté.

With Israel/Palestine so recently prominent in the news, their discussion is really good. 

This is two hours in duration. 

It is well-worthy of this week’s blog topic. 

One of the video’s commenters had this to say:

“This is possibly the greatest program [The] Grayzone has ever made. Please post bite-size extracts of this superb panel on social media for your viewers to post to their social media.” —Mark Williams

★ ★ ★

NOTE:  I have added one more name to “Recommendations”: Shant Mesrobian. I admit to not knowing enough about him. But, he came to my attention when Mesrobian was quoted by The Jimmy Dore Show from his recent guest appearance on the podcast The Popular Show. It was about #ForceTheVote. Mesrobian, who is very perceptive, has a few pieces on Inquire. (Glenn Greenwald recently told Jimmy Dore he should invite Shant Mesrobian onto his program. I hope it happens.)

‘Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden’

• Article link: ‘Chris Hedges: Don’t Be Fooled By Joe Biden’.

No Sympathy for Liz Cheney

Former U.S. president Donald Trump is orchestrating Liz Cheney’s downfall in Congress. 

The No. 3-ranking Republican—from the single At-Large congressional district in Wyoming—upset her fellow Republicans by stating the 2020 United States presidential election was legitimately won in a Democratic pickup by Joe Biden (who, in the process, unseated Trump)—and the Republicans need to move on from Trump with regard for the direction of their political party. 

This isn’t a quote. But, it is the position of Liz Cheney.

Not long after the 2008 United States presidential election of Barack Obama is when I first noticed Liz Cheney. She would make the rounds on those Sunday-morning talk programs from the broadcast and cable-news networks. Her message: Barack Obama wasn’t protecting us. Her motivation: To continue from her father, 46th U.S. vice president Dick Cheney, with more stances and pushes to continue endless wars.

Liz Cheney is a warmonger.

I recently caught a Hill video of Florida congressman Matt Gaetz—not a supreme person (by any stretch)—having his fun over Cheney’s downfall. Gaetz does not have an entire message which makes me want to truly decamp from the Democrats to the Republicans because he dumps on the Green New Deal while talking about ending endless wars. In other words: Gaetz is not trying to form a new coalition. He says some things that are perceptive. He then counters them with attacks against other factions he should try to win over. What Gaetz offers is a mixed message which will politically and electorally go nowhere. But, for the sake of some entertainment, it was enjoyable to some extent. (Video appears at the bottom.)

My take on the Republican Party, in its current form, is that it needs to get rid of the Old Guard. That the Republicans need to counter-realign against the Democrats by outflanking them on the left on vital issues like economy and the Military Industrial Complex (which, of course, also address war).

The GOP has this problem in common with the Democrats. 

The primaries voters, on the Democratic side, are not smart when it comes to counter-realign, against the Democrats, and they cannot do so without ousting their Old Guard (who are long overdue for their exits). 

The Republican primaries voters are smarter. 

During the 2010s, the Republicans were better at unseating party incumbents, in their bids for re-nomination, because in part they wanted other figures. The Democrats should have gotten rid of every corrupt neoliberal who has made a career in Democratic Party politics—especially when it was ripe to do so—and they willingly failed. (A great example: The 2016 Florida #23 primaries. They needed to oust Debbie Wasserman Schultz, after she become exposed as the corrupt DNC chairwoman who worked for Hillary Clinton and against Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries.)

The Republicans need to get rid of not only Liz Cheney but also Mitch McConnell, who caused them losing the two party-held U.S. Senate seats in 2020 Georgia with his manipulation of a bill that would have delivered $2,000 stimulus checks to U.S. citizens with this COVID–19 pandemic. (Trump wanted it. Which is why McConnell, more so than Trump, cost the party both seats in Georgia.) McConnell did this timed with the early-January 2021 runoff elections with vulnerable Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler ending up unseated by Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. The fact that the former majority leader did this and, yet, fellow Republicans have allowed McConnell to continue to lead them in the upper chamber is every bit an example of the cesspool in Washington, D.C. as are the Democrats having allowed Nancy Pelosi to still lead them in the lower chamber of Congress as she helped cost them their majority in 2010, helped cost them the presidency in 2016, helped cost them seats in 2020—even with Democrats having flipped the presidency—and is now positioned to cost them their current majority in the midterm elections of 2022.

I recommend the following by Shant Mesrobian: Why Are Democrats and Media Liberals Cheering For Liz Cheney? He has a really good read on the overall motivations of Liz Cheney; those who support her; and the Democratic Party Establishment which defends her.

Not only do I not have sympathy for Liz Cheney…

I want this parasite—who has her elected position solely due to her father—out of Congress.

How the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau’s Report Affects the Map

Last week, the U.S. Census Bureau reported on population changes. Such changes affect some states for how many congressional seats and electoral votes they will be allocated with in coming elections. (Specifically at the level of U.S. President, this will be applicable to Elections 2024 and 2028.) 

In all, there are 13 states which will be experience the following changes:

• One state, Texas, which ranks the No. 2 most-populous state in the nation, will increase by +2.

• Five states will each increase by +1. In their ranked population order, they are: Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Oregon, and Montana. (For the first time in its near-150-year history, Colorado will be allocated with a double-digit electoral vote—10. A recent source on state populations has Colorado now at No. 20, having previously supplanted Minnesota at No. 21 and now Wisconsin at No. 20. Over the next ten years, Colorado may be in position to supplant Maryland at No. 19 and, as it is not out of the realm of possibility, Missouri at No. 18.)

• Seven states will decrease—none by more than –1. But, as easily predicted and understood, most of these states are (to whatever each’s extent) among the Rust Belt. In their ranked population order, they are: New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and West Virginia. Also standing out, with a decrease of –1, is the nation’s most-populous state: California. (For the first time in its history, California will lose both a congressional seat and an electoral vote due to low growth in its population change.)

There were results which surprised some who tried to predict gains and losses but neither manifest. Many had predicted a gain for Arizona. It remains at 9 congressional seats and 11 electoral votes. (Many predicted more than what was gained with Texas and Florida.) Many also predicted losses for Minnesota and Rhode Island. For the former, this would have dropped it from a double-digit electoral vote of 10 to a single-digit electoral vote of 9. (Minnesota will remain at 10.) For the latter, had it dropped it would have become reduced to one at-large congressional district. (Rhode Island was lucky.)

When I consider the changes throughout a considerable period of time, I think as examples of my home state Michigan and a state I consider a second home, due to frequent visits with my relative, and that is Colorado. When I first voted at age 21 in 1992, Michigan had 18 and Colorado had 8 electoral votes. Applicable to Elections 2024 and 2028, Michigan will have 15 and Colorado will have 10 electoral votes. Michigan used to have a population more than double that of Colorado. Now, Michigan has a population approximately 50 percent more than Colorado. They are two good examples of very notable population changes. After all, it has been frequently reported that the population trends are with gains in the Sunbelt and the West and losses in the Midwest and the Northeast.

The above electoral map is from the outcome of Election 2020. Then-Republican incumbent Donald Trump was unseated by then-Democratic challenger Joe Biden. Trump finished with 232 and Biden won with 306 electoral votes. Reallocation of applicable states’s electoral votes would adjust that map’s score to 235 [Republican] vs. 303 [Democratic].

Perusal of the map from 270toWin: Light hues are for those unaffected. Tinted [grayish] colors are for ones which will decrease by –1. Medium hues are for those which will increase by +1. Solid hue, applicable only to Texas, is to indicate it will increase by +2.

‘Recommendations’ Updates

Last week, I added three more sources to the Recommendations list: The Vanguard, Steve Lehto, and Louis Rossmann. 

Launched on YouTube in May 2020, The Vanguard covers and discusses politics and also reviews numerous other independent content creators. The Vanguard does have exclusive content—such as its recent interview with Noam Chomsky. 

Steve Lehto is an attorney from Michigan who is really good with alerting viewers to legal issues (Lemon Law and Consumer Protection). 

Louis Rossmann, of the Rossmann Repair Group Inc. in New York, repairs numerous Apple products and has videos which are also related to business and consumer issues.