July 12, 2023

It's almost like there is a climate crisis

Here is a list of climate-related posts from just the past two days. More than I ever remember. I think maybe something is going on with the climate, no matter how much repubs want to bury their heads in the sand.

"A Climate-Changed World": Vermont Confronts Historic Flooding Again, 12 Years After Hurricane Irene - Democratic Underground

FL Ocean Temperatures In Mid-90s, And Peak Heat Stress On Remaining Corals Still Months Away - Democratic Underground

Deforestation in the Amazon in June returns to pre-Bolsonaro levels while fires are a concern - Democratic Underground

More than 100 rescues due to Vermont flooding - NBC News - Democratic Underground

Extreme US weather live: Vermont flooding 'nowhere near over', says governor - Democratic Underground

Record Florida ocean temperatures may be 'death knell' for coral reefs, expert fears - Democratic Underground

Number of wildfires surges in British Columbia after weekend of lightning strikes - Democratic Underground

Vermont flooding: Dangerous flash floods across the state - Democratic Underground

Florida ocean temperatures at 'downright shocking' levels - Democratic Underground

Phoenix Heatwave Threatens, May Surpass 120F Through Sunday 7/16 - 122F All-Time High

Seriously it is unbelievably hot - it will be 96F tomorrow in Kingston - Democratic Underground

US swelters as south-west braces for record-breaking heatwave up to 120F - Democratic Underground

Antarctic ice levels see "massive decrease" in June. - Democratic Underground

July 12 8PM ET - LIVE Climate Change Roundtable (Sanders, McKibben, AOC) - Democratic Underground

Live In An Area usually Not Prone to Natural Disasters - Democratic Underground

Microplastics Are In The Air, Drinking Water, Dust, Food: How To Reduce Your Exposure - Democratic Underground

July 7, 2023

Joe Biden's quiet success goes much further than Bidenomics

The best commentary I've seen touting Biden's accomplishments and refuting the ageist attacks on him. Many more good reads in the whole article.

snip

But if he's so over the hill that he's unable to function, how come he's done such a good job in his first term under very trying circumstances? It's not that these worries aren't legitimate but it feels as though any positive news is required to be followed by something designed to keep people from feeling too optimistic about the future. So it's been difficult to make the case that Biden's presidency has brought material improvement to most people's lives even though it manifestly has done so.

snip

I was like many progressive types who didn't expect much from Joe Biden but I reconciled myself to the idea that it would be enough to have a caretaker president who would allow the country to calm down a little bit after the tumultuous Trump years. I was wrong. Biden has been one of the most active presidents in recent memory, making changes that are abrupt departures not only from Republicans but Democrats as well, including his old boss Barack Obama.

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There were reports a couple of weeks ago that Hollywood producer and big Democratic donor Jeffrey Katzenberg was advising the Biden campaign to lean into the age thing pointing out that people aren't as ageist as we may think. After all, the biggest box office draw this past weekend was 80-year-old Harrison Ford reprising his role as Indiana Jones. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, both 79, are about to go on tour again and can be expected to sell out. Paul McCartney at 81 is producing AI Beatles records.

Some people just have a strong life force no matter what their age and if they're lucky they have wisdom, confidence and judgment too. Joe Biden seems to be among that group and his bucket list is to leave a legacy of major improvements in the way government works. For an old guy, he sure is getting a whole lot done and he wants to do more. The country will be much better off if we let him.

https://www.salon.com/2023/07/07/joe-biden-quiet-success-goes-much-further-than-bidenomics/

June 28, 2023

Nicolle Wallace to host Biden in sit down interview tomorrow

https://www.msnbc.com/deadline-white-house/deadline-legal-blog/biden-interview-deadline-white-house-supreme-court-rcna91652

June 19, 2023

RFK Jr. has a big primary problem: Democrats like Joe Biden

One big takeaway from this polling: RFK's support among Democrats comes not from "the left" as is already being thrown out here by some, but is strongest among conservatives and moderates who vote in Democratic primaries (and no they are not all disrupters):

"Per the CNN poll, Kennedy garnered 35% among Democratic primary voters who identified as non-liberal (i.e., moderate or conservative) independents. He got 10% among liberal Democrats. Kennedy’s averaging about 15% support among self-identified Democrats of any ideology."

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The president is averaging in the mid-60s nationally, and there is zero sign his support is weakening. For Biden to start dropping, Democrats would have to stop thinking he’s doing a good job as president. Biden’s approval rating among Democrats in a Quinnipiac University poll released last week was 84%. Just 16% either disapproved (13%) or didn’t hold a view (3%).There is no precedent – at least since World War II – of an incumbent president losing a contested state primary while polling above 70% nationally within his party.

Biden also scores high on a slightly different intraparty metric: His favorability rating is at 85% on average. That is, most Democrats think he’s doing a good job as president and are fans of him personally.

Kennedy’s other big problem goes beyond Biden. While the vast majority of Democrats like the president, the same cannot be said for Kennedy. A mere 25% of Democratic voters had a favorable view of him in the Quinnipiac poll – 39% had an unfavorable view. Among self-identified “strong Democrats” in a May Marquette law school poll, the split was 27% favorable to 50% unfavorable for Kennedy.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/18/politics/robert-kennedy-democratic-primary-joe-biden/index.html

June 9, 2023

Oklahoma Sooners win third straight NCAA softball title

Sooners set numerous records in winning their third straight title:
only second team to accomplish the feat
set a record for winning percentage in a season
set a record with a 58 game winning streak

A dynasty in a rapidly growing sport

GREAT DAY!!! dump indicted and Sooners do it again!

https://www.espn.com/college-sports/story/_/id/37822687/oklahoma-tops-florida-state-third-straight-ncaa-softball-title

June 7, 2023

CNN Chairman and CEO Chris Licht is out

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/07/media/chris-licht-cnn/index.html

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Chris Licht, the embattled chief executive and chairman of CNN, whose brief one-year tenure at the network was stained by a series of severe missteps, will depart the company.

“I met with Chris and he will be leaving CNN,” David Zaslav, the chief executive of parent company Warner Bros. Discovery, told CNN employees at the start of the network’s daily editorial call Wednesday.

Licht’s departure, which came days after a devastating 15,000-word profile in The Atlantic, capped a tumultuous year for CNN, marked by layoffs, historically low ratings, and rock-bottom employee morale.

May 12, 2023

Wow Nicolle is going after Anderson Cooper and CNN

RN. Heilman and the rest are joining in on the criticism, mocking Cooper's silo defense and the format, lack of fact-checking, and pro-dump audience.

May 12, 2023

Trump's team revels in town hall victory as CNN staff rages at 'spectacle of lies'

A couple of takes from this reporting: I'm coming to the point of view that Licht is more a lackey stooge who is in way over his head. He's one of those oily, amoral types you find in large organizations whose main talent is playing the system and sucking up. His ridiculous excuse for the disaster that it served democracy was not only self-serving but showed he doesn't have the faintest clue about our democracy - and really doesn't care anyway. His interaction with dump in the article illustrates that.

The other is that Collins is not some poor reporter who doesn't deserve blame but rather a Haberman-like tv personality who plays both sides.

***

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Trump was not particularly concerned by whether the broadcast would get high ratings, though he told CNN’s chief executive, Chris Licht, backstage that he would boost their ratings, to which Licht nodded and said he should have “a good conversation and have fun”, two of the people said.

Trump’s advisers saw the town hall ultimately as a strategic win for the former president, who revelled in playing off the live audience of Republican and Republican-leaning voters in New Hampshire, which is hosting the first 2024 GOP presidential primary, and talked over the CNN moderator, Kaitlan Collins, as she tried to factcheck him in real time.

In stark contrast to the Trump camp’s jubilation, the mood inside CNN was dour amid widespread reports of internal disgust. The network’s own media reporter Oliver Darcy wrote in his newsletter on Wednesday that it was “hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN”. But the Trump campaign appears to have got what it wanted out of the CNN town hall in part because it negotiated the terms of the event with an unusual degree of leverage, according to multiple people familiar with how the planning unfolded.

Trump’s team also figured that CNN worked for its needs because it could have Collins as the moderator, a rising star who co-hosts the network’s morning show but has also remained on the Trump beat and has taken care to preserve her relationship with the ex-president.

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/12/trump-town-hall-cnn-staff-rages

May 12, 2023

CNN Employees Are Not Happy With The Network's Trump Town Hall

This adds to Darcy's opinion piece this morning and includes a shot by Herr Licht at their media critic (who may get the door like Stelter did).

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“I don’t know anyone who was happy with last night,” one unnamed journalist told Vanity Fair. “The mood is absolutely the lowest it’s been in the Licht tenure, and that’s saying a lot.”

Multiple CNN insiders also gave their reactions to Rolling Stone, calling the event “appalling,” “just brutal,” “a fucking disgrace” and “1000 percent a mistake.” One questioned why the network would arrange a town hall that was “stacked with his voters.”

Michael Fanone, the former Washington police officer who was assaulted by rioters during the 2021 Capitol attack, now serves as an on-air contributor for CNN. He told HuffPost that he was upset by the broadcast.

“It’s worse than I could have ever imagined. It’s an absolute disaster,” he said. “There’s no way to fact-check this guy in real time. He’s a volcano of bullshit.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-town-hall-cnn-employees_n_645d281de4b03e16f1a1c1a7

May 11, 2023

CNN faces harsh criticism after Trump unleashed a firehose of lies during its live town hall

Some light criticism of CNN's disaster by their media reporter. And no, doing "fact-checking" afterward on a show no one watched does not mitigate or justify the decision to give free air time to an evil criminal. Besides, as Tapper admitted, there wasn't enough time to fact check all the lies. If so, then why have him on in front of an admiring audience? Because of ratings for a failing network shift instigated by a repug owner and, more importantly, for that owner, changing the narrative to fit the desires of the oligarchs.

We'll see if this take gets Darcy fired, like they got rid of Brian Stelter.

snip

It’s hard to see how America was served by the spectacle of lies that aired on CNN Wednesday evening.

Trump’s team was, naturally, delighted with the result, according to reports. “Advisers to Trump are thrilled at how this is going so far for him,” The NYT’s Jonathan Swan reported. “They can’t believe he is getting an hour on CNN with an audience that cheers his every line and laughs at his every joke.”

Neither could anyone else.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/11/media/cnn-town-hall-donald-trump-reliable-sources/index.html