Welcome to the Sunday edition of Good News Roundup. tRump was rage tweeting around his 114th round of golf yesterday. He’s usually only this unhinged right before another embarrassing revelation about something illegal, unethical and/or exceedingly stupid that he’s been mixed up in. I wonder what is about to be revealed.
In case you are new, this is a place to leverage good news to offset the bad and to inspire ourselves to fight on. Our focus is on stories that are good for the resistance, the country and the world. Every time a broadcast journalist calls tRump or one of his minions a liar, there’s another army of butterfly wings worth of pushback against the unconscionable. Every cackle of sycophants promoting a Nobel nomination is reason to make sure those particularly odious examples of conservative thought don’t get elected or re-elected. The continuous march of centipedes dropping shoe bombs reinforces our commitment to reclaim our nation.
If you believe the sky is falling or insist on crying wolf you are in the wrong place. We know your view is popular. But we aren’t you. If your intent is to disrupt this space, I’d appreciate it if you hung out at PrepareForTheRapture.com instead of trying to hijack this space.
Don’t forget to check out oldhippiedude’s Tweets ‘o the Week later on today and tune in again tomorrow at 7AM when Jessiestaf brings us Monday’s Good News Roundup.
In addition to 2thanks’ regular resource comment, Yusef52 publishes a daily diary of ways to get involved
The Cold Open
SNL had it’s season finale last week, so we’ll have to find another way to open the proceedings. This week we’ll revisit Operatico Politico’s "Alternative Rhapsody" [6:48]
The Breaking Good News
One of the most Catholic countries in the world just did something progressive.
The Atlantic: A ‘Quiet Revolution’ Comes to Ireland
DUBLIN—It was clear a big change was coming to Ireland even as the final votes were still being tallied: Exit polls Friday night showed an overwhelming majority of Irish citizens had voted “Yes” to overturn their country’s constitutional ban on abortion. And on Saturday, it was official.
It was supposed to be a much closer contest, and the overwhelming margin in the final tally conflicted with polls leading up to the vote, which seemed to show a public about evenly split on the issue. In the end, roughly 66 percent of Irish voters supported repealing the Irish constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which outlawed abortion by giving an unborn fetus equal right to life to that of a pregnant woman. Just about half that number—roughly 33 percent—voted to maintain the abortion ban.
Back here in the US, some Big Oil board rooms are in need of a new supply of Pampers.
Two cities seeking damages from BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and ConocoPhillips can now demand documents.
A federal judge wants the litigants in two high-profile climate change lawsuits against the five largest oil companies to make the case for whether he should consider the benefits of fossil fuels. He also wants the oil companies to start ponying up documents about their internal operations, which could contradict one of their key arguments in the case while also opening them up to new lines of attack.
The suits, filed by the cities of Oakland and San Francisco, are seeking damages from BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and ConocoPhillips to pay for seawalls and other infrastructure to deal with the impacts of climate change. They’re significant in part because they involve uncharted legal territory: Never before have plaintiffs tried to hold industry liable for a global problem that affects everyone. They’re also the first big test for the growing wave of cities and counties that want to try the same tactic in courts around the United States.
I think they are having a contest over in East Nutjobistan to win the How Stupid Can You Be? Trophy.
Mother Jones: Roger Stone to Associate: “Prepare to Die”
...
And perhaps the pressure is getting to Stone. Randy Credico, a New York radio host and comedian, provided Mother Jones with a series of vitriolic emails he says Stone sent him in recent weeks. Reached via text message, Stone acknowledged communicating with Credico but told Mother Jones that “most” of the emails were “probably fabricated.” Stone declined to share the complete correspondence between him and Credico.
Credico and Stone were once pals. When Stone started denying after the election that he had communicated directly with Assange, Stone claimed that Credico had served as something of a go-between for him with Assange during the campaign. For his part, Credico, who has publicly championed Assange, has said that he played no such role. Not surprisingly, the former friends have experienced a falling out.
“I am so ready. Let’s get it on. Prepare to die cock sucker,” Stone messaged Credico on April 9. Stone was responding to a message from Credico that indicated Credico would release information contradicting Stone’s claims about the 2016 election and that “all will come out.” Credico tells Mother Jones that he considered this email from Stone a threat.
I’m really, really glad the Parkland kids are on the same side of the gun issue as I am.
ABC: Publix will suspend political donations after protest by Parkland students
The grocery store chain Publix was on the defensive Friday evening after Parkland student activist David Hogg staged a "die in" over the store's donations to Florida Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam.
Publix announced Friday it would suspend political donations in the wake of Hogg's organized protest.
"At Publix, we respect the students and members of the community who have chosen to express their voices on these issues," the grocery store said in a statement. "We regret that our contributions have led to a divide in our community. We did not intend to put our associates and the customers they serve in the middle of a political debate. At the same time, we remain committed to maintaining a welcoming shopping environment for our customers.
It’s not all grins and giggles over in republican Unityville.
The Hill: GOP-Trump trade fight boils over with threat to cars
President Trump and congressional Republicans are barreling toward a showdown over auto tariffs, just the latest conflict between the president and his party on trade.
Trump has asked Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to investigate whether hefty tariffs, possibly as high as 25 percent, can be levied against auto imports for national security reasons.
The mere suggestion of the huge tariffs sparked an immediate backlash on Capitol Hill, as well as GOP-friendly business groups and key trading partners already unnerved by Trump on trade.
This Is The Week That Was
The Korea Fiasco
Donnie the Dealmaker pulled out of the North Korea summit after he found out he couldn’t negotiate preconditions after he already agreed to the summit. He was basically trying to negotiate a pre-nup while he was already in front of the judge to finalize the divorce decree.
Vox: Why did anyone ever take Trump’s North Korea diplomacy seriously?
Here’s some proof that lickspittles just can’t stop licking. Rolling Stone: Checking in With the Republicans Who Want Donald Trump to Receive the Nobel Peace Prize
His break up letter got some mighty fine mockery. news.com.au: President Trump’s letter to Kim Jong-un brutally mocked
Late Update: Two Scoops McBonespurs says the summit may be back on again and also that his staffer who briefed the media doesn’t exist (even though the staffer is on tape at an official White House briefing). Mother Jones: Trump Slams the NYT for Reporting What a White House Official Told Them
A day after canceling the summit, Trump told reporters that the White House was again talking to the North Koreans and that the summit might happen on June 12 after all. In describing the reversal, the New York Times cited a “senior administration official” as telling reporters that “even if the meeting were reinstated, holding it on June 12 would be impossible, given the lack of time and the amount of planning needed.”
tRump on twitter: Unlike what the Failing and Corrupt New York Times would like people to believe, there is ZERO disagreement within the Trump Administration as to how to deal with North Korea...and if there was, it wouldn’t matter. The @nytimes has called me wrong right from the beginning!
As pointed out by freelance journalist Yashar Ali, the official that Trump says “doesn’t exist” was actually Matt Pottinger of the National Security Council, and Pottinger’s statement was recorded (and subsequently posted by Ali). The White House routinely organizes calls during which administration officials brief the reporters on a given topic.
#MeToo
GNR covered it before, but Harvey Weinstein did his perp walk in handcuffs.
BBC: Harvey Weinstein charged with rape following New York arrest
CNN: Harvey Weinstein's arrest is a key turning point
Vulture: Ashley Judd Believes Harvey Weinstein’s Arrest Is a ‘Watershed Event’
Stacey Abrams
Joy Reid interviewed Stacey Abrams Saturday morning [8:38].
Russia, Russia, Russia
The Interactive Russia Timeline used to be hosted at BillMoyers.com It moved over to
The Committee to Investigate Russia: Everything We Know About Russia and President Trump
at the beginning of May. If you want to really get up to speed on all things tRump Russia, click the link. But beware, you can lose track of time and might end up with a wall dedicated to push-pins, yarn and mug shots.
If you are just looking for a recent recap, Goodie did a nice job on that yesterday.
#Liargate
I don’t think they learned very much watching Memogate fizzle into another nothing-burger condiment back in February. This week saw another attempt to undermine the Special Counsel’s investigation. They tried to create the impression that the FBI had infiltrated the tRump campaign. Not even champion justice obstructer Nunes bothered to try to sell this one after Twittler demanded the FBI let his folks see the raw intelligence.
Rolling Stone: President Trump Desperately Wants You to Believe 'Spygate' Is Real
Vanity Fair: Trump Goes Full Alex Jones as “Spygate” Falls Apart
The Hill: Schiff on Trump's 'spygate' claims: He is asserting an imagined world is real
There are over 3,160 pins on Viv’s pinterest Trump … Lies and Liars board.
The NFL kneels to tRump
Andy Borowitz makes an excellent point (again). The New Yorker: N.F.L. Adds First Amendment to List of Banned Substances
Steve Kerr didn’t hold back. ESPN: Warriors coach Steve Kerr rips NFL's new national anthem policy. Walter Einenkel covered it here on Daily Kos: NBA champion coach Steve Kerr on the NFL kneeling ban: It's 'fake patriotism ... it's idiotic'
Tammy Duckworth demonstrates real patriotism. The Hill: Duckworth on NFL anthem policy: I fought to defend right to take a knee in protest.
Alex Jones is Trying to Hide Behind an Eight-Ball
This week our Velveeta processed cheese-food colored Big Bleater*, tweeted “What goes around, comes around” as part of his Project Until You Drop tour. Not surprisingly, one of the sleazier residents of the Rezident’s flatulent nether space is facing a bit of “comes around.” It’s people like Alex Jones (and his Orange Emperor) who make me hope that hell is real. They are both great reasons to root for eternal damnation. From that failing newspaper in Manhattan, we have: New York Times: Truth in a Post-Truth Era: Sandy Hook Families Sue Alex Jones, Conspiracy Theorist
In three separate lawsuits — the most recent was filed on Wednesday in Superior Court in Bridgeport, Conn. — the families of eight Sandy Hook victims as well as an F.B.I. agent who responded to the shooting seek damages for defamation. The families allege in one suit, filed by Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, that Mr. Jones and his colleagues “persistently perpetuated a monstrous, unspeakable lie: that the Sandy Hook shooting was staged, and that the families who lost loved ones that day are actors who faked their relatives’ deaths.”
More broadly, the families are seeking society’s verdict on “post truth” culture in which widely disseminated lies damage lives and destroy reputations, yet those who spread them are seldom held accountable. The suit filed on Wednesday emphasizes Mr. Jones’s reach and connection to Mr. Trump. On his show last year, Mr. Jones called himself and his listeners “the operating system of Trump.” Later he said, “I’m making it safe for everybody else to speak out just like Trump’s doing, on a much bigger scale.”
…
The Sandy Hook families say a simple apology will not suffice. “Oh hell no,” Mr. Wheeler said. “Mr. Jones and his broadcast affiliates need to face serious consequences for their actions.”
*He’s cheesy, orange, fake and loud about it. Most of the ingredients for the cheese-food were imported from a German slop bucket.
Quick Hits
Vox: The EPA’s increasing hostility toward the press, explained
The Atlantic: Fifteen Unanswered Criminal-Law Questions About Trump
Daily Beast: Stormy Daniels: I Want to Depose Trump and Giuliani
Daily Beast: Roger Stone’s Ever-Changing Assange Explanations
Politico: Nunes feels Russia probe blowback at home
Huffington Post: Julianna Margulies Uses Donald Trump Poop Bags To Pick Up After Her Dog
Roundup Redux
Here at GNRoundup we report on a lot of good(ish) news every week. We have expanded Sunday’s weekly recap to include links to all the Roundups from the week.
Monday— Jessiestaf led off with the potential for a Pence tRump pissing contest. Why does everything about tRump have to do with pee? There’s also a republican food fight, Cohen caving, Tillerson dishing and some well deserved comeuppance.
Tuesday— Goodie made the case that Rosenstein is playing tRump. After that, tRump is a coward, Cohen, Stone, Cohen again and Giuliani took hits before moving on to election news, Democrats are great, Republicans are a mess, and finishing with shorter takes on Obama and Netflix, the Markle wedding, Pope Francis on gays and de Blasio on pot.
Wednesday— pr0gressivist had a lot of good news to share. From Russia, Cohen and Kushner to solar energy and hope for stroke victims with a lot of stops in-between it was quite the uplifting roundup
Thursday— oldhippiedude addressed some wisdom to good news deniers. He followed it up with an impressive list of good things happening in Texas, a boatload of bad stuff happening to republicans (Greitens, Cohen & Koback stand out), the upcoming Weinstein arrest in NY (it has now happened) and finished up with a link to the Jerry Garcia Band playing Rubin and Cherise.
Friday— Chloris Creator returned from a couple of weeks AFK with news about developments in Liargate, Russian router hacking, democratic policy proposals, trouble for republicans not named tRump and a whole lot more. She finished off with a long list of suggestions on how to get involved.
Saturday — Goodie started by reminding us why we are Democrats/liberals/progressives. Then it was on to a lot of Russia stuff, election news. polling, political allies, wind power and more.
Musical Interlude
Woody Guthrie wrote this song about a plane crash that happened in Los Gatos Canyon in 1948. Killied in the crash were 4 American citizens and 28 migrant workers being deported back to Mexico after the crop harvest was finished. Guthrie was offended by the openly racist coverage of the crash. I like this version with his son Arlo and Emmylou Harris. I hope you like it too.
The Family That Breaks the Law Together Goes to Jail Together
Donald tRump’s name appears in the Panama Papers around 3,450 times. That’s not a number he’s running around bragging about. It’s a number that links the whole tRump family to a pattern of money laundering going back to 1994 (and that’s only counts documents linked to the Panamanian lawfirm Mossack Fonseca). When discussing tRump’s involvement in shady financial transactions there are no adjectives — unprecedented, overwhelming, disturbing and so on don’t even begin to express the magnitude of just how many dirty pies he’s had his family’s stubby fingers attached to. The RICO statutes make all of these crimes part of an ongoing criminal enterprise. That means the Statute of Limitations doesn’t expire as it’s all viewed as being separate parts of the same overarching crime. By running for president, tRump has exposed himself and his family to multiple lifetimes worth of incarceration. Make it so, Mr. Mueller, make it so.
The Panama connection starts with a shady apartment deal from 1994. Newsweek: Donald Trump’s First Appearance in Panama Papers Uncovered
He’s also in the Paradise Papers. International Consortium of Investigative Journalists: Offshore Trove Exposes Trump-Russia links and Piggy Banks of the Wealthiest 1 Percent
Cohen has compared himself to a consigliere. This can’t end well. New York: Michael Cohen and the Busting of the Trump Crime Family
Is tRump harboring a fugitive? The guy who helped tRump go international, Ricardo Martinelli, the ex-president of Panama is here in the US. Panama want to extradite him. Fast Company: Trump’s Panama Problem
Some truth to power from Don Lemon. The HIll: Don Lemon: Trump family are 'grifters' who are 'stomping all over' norms
He’s using the presidency for personal business. Oh my! AP: Trump’s company asked Panama president to help in hotel spat
I’ve got some questions for Manhattan DA, Cyrus Vance. The New Yorker: How Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., Avoided a Criminal Indictment
Fusion GPS shared information about Donne being mobbed up. US News: Trump Had Ties to Russian Mob Figures: Testimony.
He started out climbing into bed with the Italian mafia. Vice: A Brief History of Donald Trump and the Mafia
I didn’t check every claim in this piece. The ones I was aware of were not exaggerated. OnePercentTakers.com: THE TRUMP CRIME FAMILY
Sunday Funnies
Keith Blevins released this last Monday here on Daily Kos and YouTube. It deserves a lot more visibility than it had when I wrote this intro.
Seth Meyers’ Check In segment from Tuesday [7:51] covers some of the “all the best people” getting other jobs with tRump after they resign from The White House in disgrace.
Bonus: Seth Myers video link to Wednesday’s A Closer Look [8:09] where he deconstructs the spies in the campaign nonsense. Seth also interviewed David Letterman on Wednesday night. Letterman Part 1 [6:23], Letterman Part 2 [3:53], Letterman Part 3 [6:56]
Samantha Bee takes down ICE. [7:44]
Out of the Forest and Thrashing Around in the Grassroots
Last week I asked you for some help crowdthinking ideas for low or no cost events that we could stage to raise our local profile and attract some new voters to get up off their couches and join the fray.
In addition to phone banking, canvassing and postcards, we came up with
- Democrats at the Dog Park
- Food Truckin’ with the Democratic Party
- Coffee House Democratic Q&A open sessions
- Concerts with the candidates
- High School Outreach
- Sponsoring and participating in charity events.
I’m still looking for more ideas, so please fill up the comments will all those innovative vote generating ideas we haven’t tried yet.
In my precinct, the republicans have an almost two to one registration advantage. Most of them do not appear to be reachable (I tried some of that directly during the primary). If you include all the independents the gap narrows to 4 to 3. To make this a truly competitive precinct, we need to add a lot of currently unregistered voters to the rolls. And to do that we need to think outside of the box. We know we win on the issues. It’s the both-sides-do-it, all-politicians-are-criminals, my-vote-doesnt-matter, I-dont-have-the-time litany of excuses that we need to be able to credibly address without sounding like Jehovah’s Witnesses preaching The End Times.
This fight is about retail, face-to-face politics at the rootsiest of the grassroots level. So, in addition to any more event ideas you might have, if you have any tales of arguments you’ve used to inspire non-voters to get involved, please share those as well.
Exploiting Animals for Clicks
Quote of the Day
Back when broadcast journalists used to do their jobs, Edward R. Murrow put together a very important episode of See It Now. It was one of the contributing factors that led to the downfall of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the worst excesses of the Red Scare. He let McCarthy hang himself with his own words. I wonder why the networks don’t do the same thing today. It’s not like there’s a scarcity of material to draw from.
“We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. . . . We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine and remember that we are not descended from fearful men – not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular. . . . We cannot defend freedom abroad by deserting it at home.”— Edward R. Murrow
Finale
The NRPS have consented to play us out with a song about coal mining featuring Jerry on pedal steel.
Disclaimer: While the FDA currently permits up to 9mg of rat feces per kilogram of wheat, GNR has been certified 100% free of rat feces. Republican messaging, however, has been shown to be composed entirely of rat feces and Giuliani mucus as a binding agent. We apologize for any inadvertent republican messaging you have been exposed to by following links. Please see your physician to make sure you haven’t been exposed to a hantavirus.