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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
February 23, 2023
Feds Have New Questions About Herschel Walker's Fundraising
Feds Have New Questions About Herschel Walker’s Fundraising
LEGAL BEAGLE
Herschel Walker's campaign is under new scrutiny for a number of potential violations, like creating a “recount” fund that one expert called a “dumping ground.”
Roger Sollenberger
Political Reporter
Published Feb. 23, 2023 4:30AM ET
It wasn’t enough that Herschel Walker’s ill-fated Senate campaign in Georgia had a rough run. Now the feds want to know more about financial moves the campaign made after Walker lost—including tens of thousands of dollars stashed in a “recount” fund long after Walker had conceded defeat.
Last week, the Federal Election Commission sent the Walker campaign committee (“Team Herschel”) a notice flagging a number of apparent violations. Some were fairly common clerical issues. Other items were more eye-catching, like the recount fund, which one campaign finance expert said looked like a “dumping ground for excess contributions.”
The Daily Beast’s independent review of Team Herschel’s end-game fundraising and spending turned up other oddities. They included hefty sums hauled in after the election, an in-kind private flight donation for the “recount” from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), as well as a mysterious six-figure payout two weeks after the election to a family friend whom the campaign had previously described as a “dedicated volunteer.”
Not least of the puzzles is the campaign’s $5 million cash on hand—a sizable chunk of change for a candidate that, by all appearances, would have needed to burn every available dollar to keep pace with his deep-pocketed opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA). (Warnock, who outraised Walker by more than $100 million, also ended 2022 with less than $6 million on hand.) Walker also got air support from outside GOP groups like the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which ended the cycle millions of dollars in debt.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/feds-have-new-questions-about-herschel-walkers-fundraising?ref=home
February 23, 2023
Jon Stewart Sounds Off on Fox News ‘Zombies’ After Damning Texts
‘THE LAST OF US’
“They are who we thought they are… which is the worst,” the comedian said of Fox News after text messages emerged revealing they knew Trump’s 2020 election lies were nonsense.
Matt Wilstein
Senior Writer
Published Feb. 22, 2023 1:43PM ET
As host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart spent 16 years mocking the biggest offenses by Fox News. But nothing could have prepared him for the recent revelations that emerged from the private text messages among the network’s biggest stars.
As Stewart explained, the texts—revealed in legal filings around Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox News—reveals what he has “been screaming about for two decades, which is a purposeful strategy to divide the country through fear and lies and whatever the fuck else it would take.”
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jon-stewart-sounds-off-on-fox-news-zombies-after-damning-texts?ref=home
Jon Stewart Sounds Off on Fox News 'Zombies' After Damning Texts
Jon Stewart Sounds Off on Fox News ‘Zombies’ After Damning Texts
‘THE LAST OF US’
“They are who we thought they are… which is the worst,” the comedian said of Fox News after text messages emerged revealing they knew Trump’s 2020 election lies were nonsense.
Matt Wilstein
Senior Writer
Published Feb. 22, 2023 1:43PM ET
As host of The Daily Show, Jon Stewart spent 16 years mocking the biggest offenses by Fox News. But nothing could have prepared him for the recent revelations that emerged from the private text messages among the network’s biggest stars.
“When you’ve spent your life screaming at Fox News in bars and hotels and your house, and then the emails finally come out that say, ‘Oh yeah, everything you thought about them is worse than you thought!’” Stewart said at the top of his latest podcast episode Wednesday, before ultimately arriving at the conclusion, “They are who we thought they are… which is the worst.”
As Stewart explained, the texts—revealed in legal filings around Dominion Voting Systems’ defamation suit against Fox News—reveals what he has “been screaming about for two decades, which is a purposeful strategy to divide the country through fear and lies and whatever the fuck else it would take.”
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/jon-stewart-sounds-off-on-fox-news-zombies-after-damning-texts?ref=home
February 21, 2023
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/19/2023
Pregnancy Is Used as a Form of Legal Torture in Parts of the United States
There's a level of cruelty built into the anti-choice laws passed just prior to and then in the wake of the corrupt Supreme Court majority shit-canning the Roe v. Wade decision. I mean, proponents of the savage legislation behave as if this is some kind of benign law, that women will either travel somewhere to get an abortion (thus allowing, say, Louisianians to wash their hands of the whole procedure) or that women will suck it up and give birth and everything will be peachy fuckin' keen the entire time.
But we know, we fucking well know, with the experience of the entirety of human history, that pregnancy is not a smooth trip from fucking to birth. It's absurd to even have state that. It's fucking absurd to have to say that pregnant people's bodies change in ways that are often permanent, and that's if everything goes fine. It's fucking absurd to have to say that even a minor issue with a pregnancy can cause all kinds of permanent shit to the pregnant person, starting with an episiotomy or bladder issues and moving up through death. And a c-section is fucking surgery. Going through that when you want the pregnancy is one thing. Going through it when you don't? What kind of fucking monsters would do that to someone? But obvious shit apparently has to be said all the goddamn time now because the only way you can pass the laws outlawing nearly all abortions at 15 weeks or 6 weeks or any time. You either have to ignore the obvious shit or you get off on torturing pregnant people. And I'm seriously thinking it's the latter in Florida and Texas and all the other states that pretend to give a fuck about the fetus.
snip//
The trauma that these pregnant people already suffer is magnified because the medical system and the doctors they trust are unable to give them the care they know is needed. It's fucking horrific. The state is adding trauma on top of trauma. And that's for pregnancies that are wanted, that are planned, where families are preparing for a new child. It's another kind of torture.
And the assholes who passed the laws that are destroying pregnant people body and mind are the ones who should be prosecuted, not the caregivers trying to help patients while being forced to watch their backs and certainly not the pregnant people, whether they want to be pregnant or not. Abortion isn't cruel. Stopping people who want or need an abortion is cruel. And it's become a tool of torture and control for the savage anti-choicers.
(Note: I used "women" at the beginning because that's the binary way those who wrote the laws view procreation. But trans men and nonbinary people can get pregnant, too, as can young girls. So, yeah, "pregnant people" is way more accurate unless talking about a specific person.)
The Rude Pundit: Pregnancy Is Used as a Form of Legal Torture in Parts of the United States
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2023/02/pregnancy-is-used-as-form-of-legal.htmlThe Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
2/19/2023
Pregnancy Is Used as a Form of Legal Torture in Parts of the United States
There's a level of cruelty built into the anti-choice laws passed just prior to and then in the wake of the corrupt Supreme Court majority shit-canning the Roe v. Wade decision. I mean, proponents of the savage legislation behave as if this is some kind of benign law, that women will either travel somewhere to get an abortion (thus allowing, say, Louisianians to wash their hands of the whole procedure) or that women will suck it up and give birth and everything will be peachy fuckin' keen the entire time.
But we know, we fucking well know, with the experience of the entirety of human history, that pregnancy is not a smooth trip from fucking to birth. It's absurd to even have state that. It's fucking absurd to have to say that pregnant people's bodies change in ways that are often permanent, and that's if everything goes fine. It's fucking absurd to have to say that even a minor issue with a pregnancy can cause all kinds of permanent shit to the pregnant person, starting with an episiotomy or bladder issues and moving up through death. And a c-section is fucking surgery. Going through that when you want the pregnancy is one thing. Going through it when you don't? What kind of fucking monsters would do that to someone? But obvious shit apparently has to be said all the goddamn time now because the only way you can pass the laws outlawing nearly all abortions at 15 weeks or 6 weeks or any time. You either have to ignore the obvious shit or you get off on torturing pregnant people. And I'm seriously thinking it's the latter in Florida and Texas and all the other states that pretend to give a fuck about the fetus.
snip//
The trauma that these pregnant people already suffer is magnified because the medical system and the doctors they trust are unable to give them the care they know is needed. It's fucking horrific. The state is adding trauma on top of trauma. And that's for pregnancies that are wanted, that are planned, where families are preparing for a new child. It's another kind of torture.
And the assholes who passed the laws that are destroying pregnant people body and mind are the ones who should be prosecuted, not the caregivers trying to help patients while being forced to watch their backs and certainly not the pregnant people, whether they want to be pregnant or not. Abortion isn't cruel. Stopping people who want or need an abortion is cruel. And it's become a tool of torture and control for the savage anti-choicers.
(Note: I used "women" at the beginning because that's the binary way those who wrote the laws view procreation. But trans men and nonbinary people can get pregnant, too, as can young girls. So, yeah, "pregnant people" is way more accurate unless talking about a specific person.)
February 21, 2023
Posted on Mon, Feb 20th, 2023 by Jason Easley
Ron DeSantis Bombs As Dozens Show Up For New York Event
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is supposed to be the GOP’s hope to stop Trump in 2024, but he ventured to Staten Island, NY where he drew a crowd of dozens of white men.
The high-end estimate of the crowd size for DeSantis is 100 people, but see for yourself:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1627673532984397825
DeSantis came to Staten Island to sell himself as the 2024 candidate who is tough on crime.
According to The New York Times, DeSantis requested the stop on Staten Island, “New York, where Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has also criticized left-leaning Democrats, was the first stop on Mr. DeSantis’s tour, and the governor’s appearance was arranged at Mr. DeSantis’s behest, according to people familiar with the details. He was expected to visit Fort Washington, a Philadelphia suburb, and Elmhurst, Ill., near Chicago, later on, Monday.”
Ron DeSantis Bombs As Dozens Show Up For New York Event
https://www.politicususa.com/2023/02/20/ron-desantis-bombs-as-dozens-show-up-for-new-york-event.htmlPosted on Mon, Feb 20th, 2023 by Jason Easley
Ron DeSantis Bombs As Dozens Show Up For New York Event
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is supposed to be the GOP’s hope to stop Trump in 2024, but he ventured to Staten Island, NY where he drew a crowd of dozens of white men.
The high-end estimate of the crowd size for DeSantis is 100 people, but see for yourself:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1627673532984397825
DeSantis came to Staten Island to sell himself as the 2024 candidate who is tough on crime.
According to The New York Times, DeSantis requested the stop on Staten Island, “New York, where Mayor Eric Adams, a former police captain, has also criticized left-leaning Democrats, was the first stop on Mr. DeSantis’s tour, and the governor’s appearance was arranged at Mr. DeSantis’s behest, according to people familiar with the details. He was expected to visit Fort Washington, a Philadelphia suburb, and Elmhurst, Ill., near Chicago, later on, Monday.”
February 20, 2023
Biden's Trip to Kyiv is the Ultimate Humiliation for Putin--and Trump
Opinion
Biden’s Trip to Kyiv is the Ultimate Humiliation for Putin—and Trump
BOLD STATEMENT
Biden joined a great history of American presidents standing up to Russian aggression, and significantly broke from the shameful actions of his predecessor.
David Rothkopf
Updated Feb. 20, 2023 11:40AM ET / Published Feb. 20, 2023 8:38AM ET
snip//
To Vladimir Putin, it was Biden’s way of saying, “I am here in Kyiv and you are not. You not only did not take Kyiv in days as some predicted, but your attack was rebuffed. Your army suffered a humiliating defeat from which it has not recovered.”
Biden emphasized this point in the official White House statement about the trip saying, “Putin thought Ukraine was weak and the West was divided. He thought he could outlast us. But he was dead wrong.” Importantly, it was a comment that was underscored in recent days by the significant Congressional delegation that attended the Munich Security Conference to make it very clear, support for Ukraine continues strong in the U.S. and it is bipartisan.
snip//
In sending this message, Biden pointedly evoked without mentioning his name yet another American president in a visit to the Eastern edges of Europe: Donald Trump during his 2018 Helsinki meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Biden went to Europe to send Putin a message of American and allied strength. Trump went to grovel before Putin. Biden stood up for American values and our allies. Trump said he trusted Putin more than America’s own intelligence and law enforcement services. Biden embodied America’s strength. Trump illustrated and represented our greatest weakness.
A year after Trump embarrassed the country in Helsinki, he compounded the offense by withholding aid from Ukraine in an attempt to extort Zelensky into doing political dirty work against Biden to help Trump’s reelection efforts. It was an illegal act that ultimately led to Trump’s first impeachment. At the same time and throughout the following year according to reports from Trump’s own top advisors, he was actively advocating to withdraw American troops from Europe.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/bidens-trip-to-kyiv-is-the-ultimate-humiliation-for-putinand-trump?ref=home
February 19, 2023
RUBBING IT IN: Warren And Sanders Introduce New SS Bill
Just as Rick Scott and other Republicans are backing off on their plan to slash the programs.
By Susie Madrak — February 18, 2023
I do not understand! I thought the only way to fix Social Security was to slash it to ribbons and make old people live in cardboard boxes and eat cat food? I am very confused, thanks to commie instigators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders! Why, even Rick Scott is backing off on his five-year plan! You don't suppose they were lying all along? Via Talking Points Memo:
Turns out it was always expected that Congress would have to tweak the popular social program:
I can't imagine why Republicans were convinced this crusade to slash the safety net was a winner, but I'd say no matter what they say now, they're pretty firmly linked to the eventual destruction of Social Security.
RUBBING IT IN: Warren And Sanders Introduce New SS Bill
https://crooksandliars.com/2023/02/warren-and-sanders-introduce-new-billRUBBING IT IN: Warren And Sanders Introduce New SS Bill
Just as Rick Scott and other Republicans are backing off on their plan to slash the programs.
By Susie Madrak — February 18, 2023
I do not understand! I thought the only way to fix Social Security was to slash it to ribbons and make old people live in cardboard boxes and eat cat food? I am very confused, thanks to commie instigators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders! Why, even Rick Scott is backing off on his five-year plan! You don't suppose they were lying all along? Via Talking Points Memo:
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) introduced their bill this week to extend the program’s solvency “effectively until the end of this century,” as Warren put it to TPM.
The bill would expand benefits by $2,400 a year, and would be offset by raising the payroll tax cap. Currently, only income up to $160,000 is taxed; the senators’ bill would tax income over $250,000.
They introduced similar legislation last summer, and are now angling to bring tax increases to the forefront of the conversation while the White House wallops Republicans for their plans to cut the programs.
“When you have a situation where somebody who makes $100 million a year contributes the same amount into the Social Security trust as somebody making $160,000, obviously, an essential part of the solution is to lift that cap,” Sanders told TPM. “No one thinks that that’s fair.”
The bill would expand benefits by $2,400 a year, and would be offset by raising the payroll tax cap. Currently, only income up to $160,000 is taxed; the senators’ bill would tax income over $250,000.
They introduced similar legislation last summer, and are now angling to bring tax increases to the forefront of the conversation while the White House wallops Republicans for their plans to cut the programs.
“When you have a situation where somebody who makes $100 million a year contributes the same amount into the Social Security trust as somebody making $160,000, obviously, an essential part of the solution is to lift that cap,” Sanders told TPM. “No one thinks that that’s fair.”
Turns out it was always expected that Congress would have to tweak the popular social program:
“When the Social Security system was established back in the 1930s, we understood as a nation that we would need to make adjustments all along. People would live longer, women would work, different occupations would be covered,” she told TPM. “Between the 1930s and the late 1980s, there were adjustments made dozens of times — small adjustments, no big cliffs, but it kept the program solvent and serving the people who needed it.”
“Then, in the late ‘80s, the Republicans put a stop to that. And so the system began to get a little more economically unstable and a little more economically unstable and a little more economically unstable,” she added. “Now we’re at a place where we need to make a significant change in the revenues, as well as the payouts.”
“Then, in the late ‘80s, the Republicans put a stop to that. And so the system began to get a little more economically unstable and a little more economically unstable and a little more economically unstable,” she added. “Now we’re at a place where we need to make a significant change in the revenues, as well as the payouts.”
I can't imagine why Republicans were convinced this crusade to slash the safety net was a winner, but I'd say no matter what they say now, they're pretty firmly linked to the eventual destruction of Social Security.
February 18, 2023
Just don’t call it a propaganda network
Published by digby on February 18, 2023
I was hoping someone would do this:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1626759139291459585
People keep saying, “well, duh, of course they were doing this.” I guess we all suspected they knew the truth and were lying and we certainly suspected they did much of what they did because their audience was pissed that they called Arizona. But these emails are far worse than just that. The top star of the network was worrying about the stock price and calling Trump a demonic figure in private. Others were trying to get reporters fired for telling the truth and following journalistic standards and validating people they personally believed were f-ing nuts. The chairman of the network was telling them not to report what they knew were the facts.
I mean, even I didn’t think they were quite that openly corrupt among themselves. It’s a full-blown profit-making, propaganda institution and they know exactly what they are doing.
digby: Just don't call it a propaganda network
https://digbysblog.net/2023/02/18/just-dont-call-it-a-propaganda-network/Just don’t call it a propaganda network
Published by digby on February 18, 2023
I was hoping someone would do this:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1626759139291459585
People keep saying, “well, duh, of course they were doing this.” I guess we all suspected they knew the truth and were lying and we certainly suspected they did much of what they did because their audience was pissed that they called Arizona. But these emails are far worse than just that. The top star of the network was worrying about the stock price and calling Trump a demonic figure in private. Others were trying to get reporters fired for telling the truth and following journalistic standards and validating people they personally believed were f-ing nuts. The chairman of the network was telling them not to report what they knew were the facts.
I mean, even I didn’t think they were quite that openly corrupt among themselves. It’s a full-blown profit-making, propaganda institution and they know exactly what they are doing.
February 18, 2023
Fox is a Republican super PAC masquerading as a news network—and Dominion’s lawsuit proves it
Jen Hayden
Daily Kos Staff
Friday February 17, 2023 · 3:14 PM EST
Share this article
Oct. 7, 1996 is, as they say, a date that will live infamy. That is the day Fox News launched into 17 million homes and forever changed the landscape of not just television, but our entire system of governance.
For Daily Kos readers, the obvious has been clear from the start: Fox News exists to tear down Democrats and build up Republicans, especially the ones pushing racial and gender division packaged as “culture wars” and “wokeness.”
Fox’s ideological mission has long been on display, but Dominion Voting System’s lawsuit against Fox News makes it crystal clear in a whole new way. Take Rupert Murdoch’s email about Newsmax, an aspiring Fox competitor, to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott:
“Helping any way we can,” he said. “Everything at stake here.”
Can you even for a moment imagine if the owner of NBC News directed the CEO to ensure the network was helping in any way it could to help a party win an election?If Ted Koppel or Walter Cronkite openly campaigned for a candidate on their airwaves night after night?
Sure, Fox News skates the line by claiming its primetime superstars like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are entertainment and not actual news and therefore don’t have to follow journalistic standards. But does their audience really get that? And does supposed distinction matter when the network’s goal is to rile up its viewers to help the Republican Party win?
It’s not just building up Republicans, though. Damaging Democrats and their agenda has been part of Fox’s core daily mission, too. Hillary Clinton was a near-daily focus for 25 years. Why? Because she was capable of becoming president. Because she was an adept messenger of Democratic ideals and progressive goals. And because it is financially lucrative to feed the hate of millions of mostly older, mostly white curmudgeons who tune in for the performative outrage.
It’s precisely the reason Fox now regularly targets the brilliant and likable Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has “it”—and Fox News knows it. It’s the reason the network focuses on damaging Pete Buttigieg in his current role as secretary of transportation. It isn’t so much about what Ocasio-Cortez and Buttigieg are doing now; it’s about where they are going next. It’s about laying the groundwork now to make them a little more unstable in the future. The amount of negative coverage a Democrat gets on Fox News is often directly proportionate to their ceiling. In both of these cases, the ceilings are high.
Republican candidates and electeds no longer have to show up to explain complicated policy issues and legislative initiatives. Republicans even tailor their congressional floor speeches to get those coveted nightly guest slots on Fox News. In the ecosystem Fox has created, nothing is more important than simply showing up to own the libs. The meaner, the better.
Quite frankly, it goes against every American ideal imaginable. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? We are going on 30 years of intentional division.
At Daily Kos, we do work to bring you the news through a progressive lens and to help elect more and better Democrats. But we wear that on our sleeve. It’s right there in our mission statement. We aren’t being piped into your dentist’s waiting room under the guise of being a regular ol’ news network. In fact, countering the force that is Fox News has been a central part of this website and other progressive outlets like Media Matters (hat tip to this crew!).
Fox News has spent 27 years diligently dividing this nation and even dividing families: night after night of hearing that their neighbors, coworkers, friends, and even their own families are socialists trying to ruin this great nation. It has promoted a series of poisonous personalities whose entire job seems to be fear-mongering with racist dog whistles and mean-girl rants to stick it to the libs. The damage they have done is incalculable, and it’s not hyperbole to say this nation cannot heal unless and until Fox News changes course—something they have no interest in doing.
It’s hard work countering narratives and the barrage of misinformation and disinformation from a network that reaches 91% of American homes, but with your help, we keep at it. Because we have to! What alternative is there? Just let Murdoch, Carlson, and Hannity win? In the words of Rupert Murdoch himself, everything is at stake here. And so we keep going.
Fox is a Republican super PAC masquerading as a news network--and Dominion's lawsuit proves it
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/17/2153510/-Fox-is-a-Republican-Super-PAC-masquerading-as-a-news-network-and-Dominion-s-lawsuit-proves-itFox is a Republican super PAC masquerading as a news network—and Dominion’s lawsuit proves it
Jen Hayden
Daily Kos Staff
Friday February 17, 2023 · 3:14 PM EST
Share this article
Oct. 7, 1996 is, as they say, a date that will live infamy. That is the day Fox News launched into 17 million homes and forever changed the landscape of not just television, but our entire system of governance.
For Daily Kos readers, the obvious has been clear from the start: Fox News exists to tear down Democrats and build up Republicans, especially the ones pushing racial and gender division packaged as “culture wars” and “wokeness.”
Fox’s ideological mission has long been on display, but Dominion Voting System’s lawsuit against Fox News makes it crystal clear in a whole new way. Take Rupert Murdoch’s email about Newsmax, an aspiring Fox competitor, to Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott:
These people should be watched, if skeptically. Trump will concede eventually and we should concentrate on Georgia, helping any way we can. We don't want to antagonize Trump further, but Giuliani taken with a large grain of salt. Everything at stake here.
“Helping any way we can,” he said. “Everything at stake here.”
Can you even for a moment imagine if the owner of NBC News directed the CEO to ensure the network was helping in any way it could to help a party win an election?If Ted Koppel or Walter Cronkite openly campaigned for a candidate on their airwaves night after night?
Sure, Fox News skates the line by claiming its primetime superstars like Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson are entertainment and not actual news and therefore don’t have to follow journalistic standards. But does their audience really get that? And does supposed distinction matter when the network’s goal is to rile up its viewers to help the Republican Party win?
It’s not just building up Republicans, though. Damaging Democrats and their agenda has been part of Fox’s core daily mission, too. Hillary Clinton was a near-daily focus for 25 years. Why? Because she was capable of becoming president. Because she was an adept messenger of Democratic ideals and progressive goals. And because it is financially lucrative to feed the hate of millions of mostly older, mostly white curmudgeons who tune in for the performative outrage.
It’s precisely the reason Fox now regularly targets the brilliant and likable Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She has “it”—and Fox News knows it. It’s the reason the network focuses on damaging Pete Buttigieg in his current role as secretary of transportation. It isn’t so much about what Ocasio-Cortez and Buttigieg are doing now; it’s about where they are going next. It’s about laying the groundwork now to make them a little more unstable in the future. The amount of negative coverage a Democrat gets on Fox News is often directly proportionate to their ceiling. In both of these cases, the ceilings are high.
Republican candidates and electeds no longer have to show up to explain complicated policy issues and legislative initiatives. Republicans even tailor their congressional floor speeches to get those coveted nightly guest slots on Fox News. In the ecosystem Fox has created, nothing is more important than simply showing up to own the libs. The meaner, the better.
Quite frankly, it goes against every American ideal imaginable. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all? We are going on 30 years of intentional division.
At Daily Kos, we do work to bring you the news through a progressive lens and to help elect more and better Democrats. But we wear that on our sleeve. It’s right there in our mission statement. We aren’t being piped into your dentist’s waiting room under the guise of being a regular ol’ news network. In fact, countering the force that is Fox News has been a central part of this website and other progressive outlets like Media Matters (hat tip to this crew!).
Fox News has spent 27 years diligently dividing this nation and even dividing families: night after night of hearing that their neighbors, coworkers, friends, and even their own families are socialists trying to ruin this great nation. It has promoted a series of poisonous personalities whose entire job seems to be fear-mongering with racist dog whistles and mean-girl rants to stick it to the libs. The damage they have done is incalculable, and it’s not hyperbole to say this nation cannot heal unless and until Fox News changes course—something they have no interest in doing.
It’s hard work countering narratives and the barrage of misinformation and disinformation from a network that reaches 91% of American homes, but with your help, we keep at it. Because we have to! What alternative is there? Just let Murdoch, Carlson, and Hannity win? In the words of Rupert Murdoch himself, everything is at stake here. And so we keep going.
February 17, 2023
Depression—Like Sen. John Fetterman’s—Is Incredibly Common Post-Stroke
‘A LONG ROAD’
Approximately one in three stroke survivors later develop depression, but can manage the condition with the right treatment and support system, experts told The Daily Beast.
AJ McDougall
Breaking News Reporter
Published Feb. 16, 2023 7:57PM ET
snip//
Besides psychotherapy and medication, what best helps people living with depression are their social support networks. One pillar of that network for Fetterman will be his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who tweeted on Thursday that she was “so proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs.”
Other sources of support will be his colleagues, like Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). “In the short time I’ve worked with John Fetterman, I’ve been struck by his resilience and heart,” she posted to Twitter after the news of his hospitalization. “John is doing exactly what he should do, which is seek help.”
She continued: “Seeking help when you need it is a sign of strength, not weakness, something that John is demonstrating for all of us.”
That was one of the things Towfighi found “heartwarming” about the matter, she said. “He wasn’t hiding it, and there was no shame.”
To come out and articulate what you’re struggling with is “a step towards destigmatizing” it on a wider scale, Hellerstein added. He lauded people with followings for coming forward with their own stories, be they of depression, other mood disorders, or substance dependence problems. “It’s a public good, frankly,” he said.
Depression--Like Sen. John Fetterman's--Is Incredibly Common Post-Stroke
https://www.thedailybeast.com/depressionlike-fettermansis-incredibly-common-post-stroke?ref=homeDepression—Like Sen. John Fetterman’s—Is Incredibly Common Post-Stroke
‘A LONG ROAD’
Approximately one in three stroke survivors later develop depression, but can manage the condition with the right treatment and support system, experts told The Daily Beast.
AJ McDougall
Breaking News Reporter
Published Feb. 16, 2023 7:57PM ET
snip//
Besides psychotherapy and medication, what best helps people living with depression are their social support networks. One pillar of that network for Fetterman will be his wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, who tweeted on Thursday that she was “so proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs.”
Other sources of support will be his colleagues, like Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN). “In the short time I’ve worked with John Fetterman, I’ve been struck by his resilience and heart,” she posted to Twitter after the news of his hospitalization. “John is doing exactly what he should do, which is seek help.”
She continued: “Seeking help when you need it is a sign of strength, not weakness, something that John is demonstrating for all of us.”
That was one of the things Towfighi found “heartwarming” about the matter, she said. “He wasn’t hiding it, and there was no shame.”
To come out and articulate what you’re struggling with is “a step towards destigmatizing” it on a wider scale, Hellerstein added. He lauded people with followings for coming forward with their own stories, be they of depression, other mood disorders, or substance dependence problems. “It’s a public good, frankly,” he said.
February 17, 2023
Republicans take aim at risque jokes and romance novels with anti-sex bills
Bills are part of religious right’s post-Roe strategy, with most prevalent ones relating to age verification of sex-related websites
In many of the states where the anti-porn bills are being put forth, minors can legally have sex and get married.
Hallie Lieberman
Fri 17 Feb 2023 05.00 EST
Last modified on Fri 17 Feb 2023 05.02 EST
A wave of proposed legislation pushed by Republicans across the US at the state level is aimed at outlawing aspects of sexuality that could have a huge impact on Americans’ private lives and businesses.
Opponents to the laws before legislatures in various states say the planned new legislation could spawn prosecution of breast-pump companies in Texas for nipples on advertising, or a bookstore might be banned from selling romance novels in West Virginia, or South Carolina could imprison standup comics if a risque joke is heard by a young person.
The bills are part of a post-Roe nationwide strategy by the religious wing of the Republican party, now that federal abortion rights have fallen. They range from banning all businesses that sell sex-related goods to anti-drag queen bills. Tyler Dees, an Arkansas state senator who wrote an anti-porn bill said: “I would love to outlaw it all,” referring to porn.
The most prevalent bills relate to age verification of sex-related websites. Seventeen states drafted porn age-verification bills, many inspired by Louisiana’s law that went into effect in January. Louisiana’s law requires websites featuring 33.33% or more pornographic content to check government-issued ID to verify users are 18 and older. Websites that don’t comply face civil penalties. Parents can sue the site if kids access it.
more...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/republican-anti-sex-legislation-state-level
Republicans take aim at risque jokes and romance novels with anti-sex bills
Republicans take aim at risque jokes and romance novels with anti-sex bills
Bills are part of religious right’s post-Roe strategy, with most prevalent ones relating to age verification of sex-related websites
In many of the states where the anti-porn bills are being put forth, minors can legally have sex and get married.
Hallie Lieberman
Fri 17 Feb 2023 05.00 EST
Last modified on Fri 17 Feb 2023 05.02 EST
A wave of proposed legislation pushed by Republicans across the US at the state level is aimed at outlawing aspects of sexuality that could have a huge impact on Americans’ private lives and businesses.
Opponents to the laws before legislatures in various states say the planned new legislation could spawn prosecution of breast-pump companies in Texas for nipples on advertising, or a bookstore might be banned from selling romance novels in West Virginia, or South Carolina could imprison standup comics if a risque joke is heard by a young person.
The bills are part of a post-Roe nationwide strategy by the religious wing of the Republican party, now that federal abortion rights have fallen. They range from banning all businesses that sell sex-related goods to anti-drag queen bills. Tyler Dees, an Arkansas state senator who wrote an anti-porn bill said: “I would love to outlaw it all,” referring to porn.
The most prevalent bills relate to age verification of sex-related websites. Seventeen states drafted porn age-verification bills, many inspired by Louisiana’s law that went into effect in January. Louisiana’s law requires websites featuring 33.33% or more pornographic content to check government-issued ID to verify users are 18 and older. Websites that don’t comply face civil penalties. Parents can sue the site if kids access it.
more...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/feb/17/republican-anti-sex-legislation-state-level
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