The greenest of lights

I was at the annual gala to raise money for the Ruth Ellis Center, where I volunteer. I’ll try to remember next year not to bother with most of the time for the “strolling dinner” – what I ate was good, though most high brow food doesn’t interest me and the milling crowds are a bit much.

But I’m glad I was there for the uplifting program. The Center was created 20 years ago (and I’ve been a volunteer there for 11) and over that time has greatly expanded its services to LGBTQ youth in need. Several awards were given. One to the Detroit soccer club for making their playing venue a welcome space and for creating a fundraising system – a donation for every goal. An award to Shea Diamond for being fabulous as a transgender woman after a traumatic life which included serving 10 years in a men’s prison and its constant harassment. To Shangela for working at being a drag queen able to get acting roles in movies and TV. And to Wanda Sykes, who told us her coming out story. She came out at 40 and communication with her parents stopped. She is well aware that she was able to “have a good cry beside my heated swimming pool.” She supports the Ruth Ellis Center because she knows that many of the youth, when they come out, end up with nothing.



I think Garry Kasparov tweeted this just before the whole impeachment inquiry became a real thing. He explains why impeachment and removal is necessary.

This is what every autocrat does, as I’ve written about Putin for years. Transgress, look around at the reaction, and if it’s safe, transgress again—bigger, more, worse each time. ... Trump does the same, and the weak response from his rivals only encourages further abuses. If they really cared, he thinks, they would stop him. And he's right.

Kasparov adds that expressions of concern are “the greenest of lights” because to the autocrat all that talk is meaningless. If his opponents were truly concerned they would do something.

Sarah Christopherson gives an example of what Kasparov wrote:

It's hardly a coincidence that his Ukraine call happened the day after he thought the Mueller report was truly dead.

So on to reactions to how that impeachment inquiry is proceeding.

Kyle Cheney, a Congress reporter for Politico, reports that Democrats are looking for an expedited process of focusing only on the Ukraine affair which could see a vote by the end of the year. That appears to be the one issue that unites their caucus.

Responses to Cheney’s tweet name many other offenses by the nasty guy that are impeachable.

TBashII notes a source that says there will be few, if any hearings. He responds:

um........."few, if any hearings" is the worst idea imaginable

Jeffrey Burr expands:

All they *have* is hearings. That is the only point.

Republicans in the Senate will never convict. So what's the point of impeaching if you don't have public hearings? Hearings educate the public and counter the GOP/Trump spin.

Walter Shaub, former director of the Office of Government Ethics, tweeted:

You spend 2.5 years defending the most corrupt President in history, normalizing egregious breaches of norms, viciously attacking anyone who sounds the alarm—and somehow the guy gets a crazy notion in his head that you'll tolerate anything. I mean where would he get such an idea?

Dave Weigel, political reporter for the Washington Post tweeted:

“Will this fire up Trump’s base” is a good question, but it seems like there are endless issues/fights that are Firing Up Trump’s base. By contrast, the Democrats’ base was watching them fold and whimper and clearly getting sick of it.

At least some people in media are catching on. As the nasty guy was nattering away about how everyone else, especially Joe and Hunter Biden, are the ones who really should be impeached, Nichole Wallace interrupted MSNBC’s broadcast of the nasty guy to say:

We hate to do this, really, but the president isn't telling the truth. These allegations against Joe Biden and Hunter Biden that he has been repeating have been investigated by the Ukrainians. None other than the Wall Street Journal included in their report, on Friday, that the Ukrainians view this issue as having been investigated and adjudicated, and what’s amazing is that what Trump appears to be trying to do is to turn his own impeachment into a big deflection.

Thank you! We need much more of this.