An older white guy who could have gone MAGA, but didn't

Anna Spoerre, in an article for Missouri Independent posted on Daily Kos, reported that abortion rights will be on the ballot in Missouri in November. Missourians for Constitutional Freedom turned in 380,000 signatures. They needed 171,000. They did it in 90 days. They were limited to that because of Republican fights over ballot language and their own internal disagreements over whether to included a viability ban. As they were gathering signatures Republicans tried to raise the number of required signatures. That attempt failed because of a series of filibusters, one which broke records. If passed (and all similar measures in other states have) the constitutional amendment will legalize abortion up to fetal viability, usually around 24 weeks. This would return Missouri to the Roe decision. Kos of Kos discussed the pro-Palestinian protesters that are turning their attention to Harris and will protest during next week’s Democratic convention. Their frustration is understandable – Biden’s unwavering support for Israel prompted the “uncommitted” campaign in the primary. And Harris hasn’t yet defined a policy much different. Kos pointed out that failing to support Harris before the election will backfire. The way to be heard (the purpose of protest) is to make sure Harris is elected, then protest. Support her and she’s more likely to listen. Withholding support will backfire because the nasty guy will be much worse for their cause. This afternoon I heard one rebuttal to that. If the nasty guy wins the pro-Palestinian voters will blame Democrats for not meeting their demands. A while back I wrote about the new law in Florida that allows faith-based chaplains into public schools to offer counseling services. Jay Waagmeester in an article for Florida Phoenix posted on Kos reported the Council of Florida Churches will be telling school districts that implementing the law is a bad idea. The law is written to say schools may, but are not required to, allow chaplains to be counselors. Faith leaders will tell schools the reasons why the law is a bad idea. First, the only requirement for a faith leader to be a counselor is to pass a background check (which, in this scenario, is insufficient). There are no requirements on being an adequately trained counselor of children. A student receiving inadequate or inappropriate care could open the school district to be held liable for negligence. Second, the school could be sued for religious coercion and indoctrination. Third, there probably won’t be counselors from Muslim or Hindu (or Satanic Temple) faiths to care for students of those religions, means those students will be discriminated against, another possible source of lawsuits. Better just ignore this law. Mark Sumner of Kos wrote about the two hour “conversation” between the nasty guy and Elon Musk on Musk’s X platform. Kos had noted it had lots of tech problems (Musk had fired most of his tech workers) and demonstrated the nasty guy’s “inability to complete a sentence.” Fortunately, many news outlets also recognized the conversation as a disaster. In a pundit roundup for Kos Greg Dworkin quoted Anand Giridharadas of “The.Ink” on Substack:

It’s being discussed more and more, but I truly think one of the most powerful and still underrated forces in the election is going to be the joy and relief millions feel watching Coach Walz and imagining that their dads and uncles and neighbors could wake up from their hatred. An argument against hatred and extremism and misogyny and resentment is powerful. But a living embodiment of someone who could have gone that way but didn’t — this is a force all its own. It’s very hard to rebut and fact-check and out-argue and deprogram these men who fell prey to Rupert Murdoch’s profit lust. But when you see an older white guy who is just happy and can’t wait for the future — wow. It is going to burrow deep into many people with lost relatives.

In the comments is a meme posted by THEE Harmless Artist. It is pretty cool art work. Alas, the artist isn’t named. The caption says, “The Blue Wave is Coming and it is covered in cat hair.” I haven’t written about the Ukraine invasion in a long time. Part of that is because Kos staff hasn’t written about it. But annieli of the Kos community has been writing about the war nearly every day for the 900 days it has been going on (yes, it has been that long). I haven’t read this author before, but I wanted to learn more about the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. Yes, the one invaded is doing some invading of its invader. I can’t easily summarize what is says, though if you want to know more, this is a place to start. Be aware this post is already two days old. Almost two weeks ago the movie War Game came out. It looked intriguing and important to see. Then I heard it described as a thriller and interest is dampened. I mention it because I still think it is important. Mary Louise Kelly of NPR talked to the movie’s directors Tony Gerber and Jesse Moss. Their conversation is eight minutes. There is also a transcript. The setup is to imagine the events of January 6, 2021 happen again. This time part of the military joins the coup. Most of what we see is a collection of government officials in the bunker gaming out how they could prevent that coup. One of the characters describes it as an exercise in “Coup Prevention 101.” Most of the actors are real former top level government officials and members of Congress, plus law enforcement and military officials. That makes me wonder how much of the movie was scripted and how much improvised. Working through this exercise is important because the transfer of power is a gentleman’s agreement that was violated last time. It’s a vulnerability. But, when it is actually happening how to respond isn’t always clear. What is propaganda and what is fact? Are leaders prepared and able to handle the crisis? Is their plan an overreaction? Underreaction? Once the Insurrection Act is invoked, some democratic norms are suspended and getting them back can be difficult. The movie is a good step in a conversation this country needs because few people read 100-page reports. They are planning a screening on Capitol Hill in the fall. I hope it also gets screened at the White House and Pentagon.