Weekend Open Thread
[guest post by Dana]
Hello! Let’s get started!
First news item
Members of pluralistic societies must be able to listen to others’ points of view and work with them, or against them, in ways that benefit the culture. Ideally, the clash of ideas produces a better solution.
…
“To be civil — to behave in a manner that takes into consideration the feelings and the comforts of others — means practicing the art of giving,” Forni writes. “It creates a bond between those involved. … Manners are the first step of the soul toward love.”
A lack of love is our real problem, for which the lack of civility is just a symptom. We know how to love; we simply withhold it from those we deem unlovable. Mysteriously, in 2021, those people all seem to belong to the other political party.
Stop aiming for the low bar of civility, which you can’t sink your teeth into like a chimichanga. Instead, aim for love, even of your political enemies. You might even realize they aren’t your enemies after all.
Second news item
Enes Kanter Freedom doesn’t care about the cost to him because freedom is worth it:
What got you interested in the issue of the Uyghurs and concentration camps in China?
It’s a crazy story, because, this summer I was doing a basketball camp. All the kids were lined up and I was taking pictures with them one by one. I took a picture with this kid, and his parents called me out in front of everybody and said, “How can you call yourself a human-rights activist when your Muslim brothers and sisters are getting tortured and raped every day in concentration camps in China?” I was shocked. I turned around and was, like, “I promise you, I’m going to get back to you.” I started to study more and more. I started with the Uyghurs and then I saw what Tibet was going through, and what Hong Kong and Taiwan and Mongolians are going through. It broke my heart. And I’m, like, “It doesn’t matter what it costs. I have to bring awareness of what’s going on.”
Third news item
“Standard gargle, mouthwash, has been proven to kill the coronavirus,” [Republican Sen. Ron] of Wisconsin said in an audio clip played by Burnett. “If you get it, you may reduce viral replication. Why not try all these things?”
Burnett turned to Sununu and said, “People run with these kinds of theories. They believe them. How damaging is it?”
“Look, it’s incredibly damaging,” replied the governor. “There’s no doubt about it. I’ve gotten kind of famous for saying when crazy comes knocking at the door, slam it shut. And that’s what you gotta do. You can’t just tolerate it and say it’s just a certain part of your population that is, you know, transmitting all this misinformation and it doesn’t matter. It does matter because it gets into the populace.”
Fourth news item
A trillion here, a trillion there, they do not, do not really care:
The House version of the Democratic climate and social spending bill would increase federal deficits by $3 trillion over the next decade if temporary provisions are made permanent, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Friday.
The numbers were requested by Republicans, who have criticized the Democratic plan as being riddled with budgetary gimmicks to make it appear to cost less. The legislation has several spending items that sunset early that, if made permanent as Democrats intend them to be, would balloon the cost of the bill.
The report from the budget office released Friday is a blow to President Joe Biden’s efforts to push the bill through Congress, as it will add to fears that the spending measure would push the government further into debt and stoke inflation hotter. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, in particular, whose vote Biden is counting on, has expressed such worries.
The initial scoring from the CBO only accounted for the legislation as written, sunsets included. The CBO first said that the legislation would increase federal deficits by $367 billion over the next 10 years.
Fifth news item
The ongoing cultural genocide:
In illegally occupied Tibet, China is separating children from their families in boarding schools for the purposes of indoctrination in communism, to make them think of themselves as “Chinese” instead of Tibetan, and for the purpose of severing their attachment to Buddhist culture…
Tibet’s education system has become primarily residential; official data shows that approximately 800,000 Tibetan children aged six to 18 – 78% of Tibetan students – are living in colonial boarding schools;
Students attend a class inside a classroom during a government-organised media tour to Lhasa Naqu Second Senior High School in Lhasa, Tibet, June 1, 2021. (Martin Pollard/Reuters)
Tibetan parents are compelled to send their children to boarding schools due to a lack of alternatives and are unable to advocate for other options in Tibet’s repressive environment. Individual accounts show that intimidation and threats are used to coerce reluctant parents to send their children to such schools;
Students are at risk of losing their mother tongue and connection to their cultural identity because: 1) classes are primarily taught in Chinese;2) they live apart from their families and communities and are, therefore, unable to practice their religion or access the most authentic expressions of Tibetan culture and traditions; and 3) they are subjected to a highly politicized curriculum intended to make them identify as Chinese;
China’s boarding school policy is discriminatory in that it targets Tibetans and other “ethnic minorities,” while the rate of Chinese students in boarding schools is dramatically lower, even in rural areas;
Researchers have shown Tibetan boarding school students to be experiencing great emotional and psychological distress, including extreme feelings of loneliness and isolation, as a result of being separated from their families, communities, and culture.
Sixth news item
Trumpers still wondering why Liz won’t just sit down and shut-up:
We have received exceptionally interesting and important documents from a number of witnesses, including Mark Meadows. He has turned over many texts from his private cell phone from January 6th. (2/4)
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) December 9, 2021
Do not be misled: President Trump is trying to hide what happened on January 6th and to delay and obstruct. We will not let that happen.
The truth will come out. (4/4)
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) December 9, 2021
Seventh news item
I mean, what else would you expect??:
Days after announcing his candidacy for governor, Republican David Perdue further embraced debunked claims of electoral fraud in Georgia’s 2020 presidential race by joining a lawsuit seeking to prove he and former President Donald Trump were cheated out of election victories.
The suit claims that fraudulent or counterfeit ballots were counted in Fulton County, the state’s most populous jurisdiction, although investigators rebutted the same claims previously.
Perdue’s lawsuit amplifies claims that the former senator has made this week since announcing a challenge to incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday. Perdue told Axios and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that he wouldn’t have certified Georgia’s 2020 results if he had been governor then, unlike Kemp.
Eighth news item
There is something sad and desperate about Hillary Clinton reading what would have been her victory speech had she won the election in 2016:
In a soon-to-be-released Masterclass episode on “The Power of Resilience,” the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee and former secretary of state reads from the remarks she had prepared to give in New York on November 8, 2016, before it became clear that Donald Trump had won the election.
“My fellow Americans, today you sent a message to the whole world,” she says. “Our values endure. Our democracy stands strong. And our motto remains: e pluribus unum. Out of many, one.
“We will not be defined only by our differences. We will not be an us versus them country. The American dream is big enough for everyone. Through a long, hard campaign, we were challenged to choose between two very different visions for America. How we grow together, how we live together, and how we face a world full of peril and promise together.
“Fundamentally, this election challenged us to decide what it means to be an American in the 21st century. And for reaching for a unity, decency, and what President Lincoln called ‘the better angels of our nature.’ We met that challenge.”
I think she’s an irrelevant has-been who refuses to fade from the public arena, but there might be a good reason why:
Democrats are looking for a fallback option in 2024 in case Biden’s too old for another four years. You don’t suppose…
She’s younger than Biden and Trump. She seems to be in good health. And her incandescent ambition will never fade. She’s even got a victory speech pre-written!
2024…Lord have mercy!
MISCELLANEOUS
Still holding on:
Have a great weekend.
–Dana