Wednesday, February 05, 2025

The Snapshot

Wednesday, February 5, 2025. Keith Edwards talks the self-coup, protests begin taking place around the country, anger builds towards South African native Elon Musk, can you criticize Glenn and Matty while hiding in a political closet, Socialism, and so much more.


In the video below, Keith Edwards talks the self-coup.



"We can complain about it," whines Senator Pete Welch in a clip in causing Keith to ask, "That is your answer for all of us?  Complain about it?"  

As Keith notes, we need action.


A movement to oppose the early actions of President Donald Trump’s administration is taking off online, with plans to protest across the U.S. on Wednesday.

The movement has organized under the hashtags #buildtheresistance and #50501, which stands for 50 protests, 50 states, one day. Many of the protests are planned at state capitols, with some in other cities.

The movement has websites and accounts across social media. Flyers circulating online decry Project 2025, a hard-right playbook for American government and society, and include messages such as “reject fascism” and “defend our democracy.” In a coffee shop just a block from Michigan’s Capitol, organizers of a planned action there Wednesday pushed together tables, spreading out poster boards to write messages that read “No Deportations Ever!” and “Workers Unite!”


REUTERS has a photo essay of the protest in Los Angles earlier this week -- the protest against the attack on immigrants.  Presley Bo Tyler (SHREVEPORT TIES) reports:

On Feb. 5, there will be 50 nationwide protests in all 50 states.

Orchestrated by the 50501 Movement, the protests will occur in all 50 states for just one day.

The protests are in opposition to Donald Trump's presidency and will be carried out in order to "fight fascism."

In Louisiana, residents will take part in the 50501 Movement protests outside the Louisiana State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge on Feb. 5.

The protest movement is against President Trump's actions during his first two weeks back in office. After a plethora of controversial executive orders and pardons for the Jan. 6 rioters, the 50501 Movement has organized to combat President Trump's position in the White House.


Thomas Clouse (SPOKANE's SPOKESMAN REVIEW) reports on yesterday's action in Washington state:

Snowy streets, heavy coats and runny noses accompanied the ringing cries and subsequent honks Tuesday as about 70 people gathered outside the federal courthouse in downtown Spokane to protest the unusual involvement by billionaire Elon Musk in the early workings of the second administration of Donald Trump.

Toting signs that read, “We didn’t vote for this chaos” and “Elon” slashed through by a diagonal line, as well as “Send DOGE to Mars,” protesters came to the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse on Tuesday afternoon.

“I’m here for my grandchildren and all future generations,” said Kim Harmson of Spokane. “I’m outraged. You can’t normalize this.”

Joanna Ellington, of Valleyford, said she saw an interview Monday night where U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Maryland, suggested that anyone who was not comfortable with the actions of Musk, who has been appointed the head of the newly created Department of Governmental Efficiency, to locally organize.

So, Ellington said she started calling those mostly older residents who she knew could immediately respond.

“We believe in the rule of law,” Ellington said. “What has happened is unprecedented and illegal and very concerning to me. I decided to have it now because of the actions in the Treasury Department. I just wanted to make sure that Spokane voices were being heard.”


 BLUESKY notes some of this week's protests. 

Chants of "lock him up!" ring out about Elon Musk at Democratic Musk protest in DC

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) February 4, 2025 at 4:40 PM

This is a hell of a crowd size for a protest at the Treasury Department. People do not like Elon.

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— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) February 4, 2025 at 5:29 PM


No, people do not like Elon.  Senator Patty Murray's office issued the following:


Murray: “We should all be deeply concerned about what it could mean to give Elon Musk and his cronies free rein at VA—I am already hearing that DOGE may have barged into VA today.  Musk and his associates already have the personal financial information of every veteran receiving disability or education benefits because of their illegal data mining at the Department of Treasury.  Will they now look at private health records of veterans?  What else will they do that could put the health and safety of our veterans at risk? If Vought and Musk push to cut veterans benefits and limit healthcare eligibility as Project 2025 has outlined—would Doug Collins stand up to them?”

Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee and a senior member and former Chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, released the following statement after voting no on the nomination of Doug Collins to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs:

“Right now, the Trump administration is illegally withholding funding from communities across America, and they are ransacking and effectively gutting entire federal agencies—this kind of lawlessness is putting our economy, national security, and future at risk.

“Today I voted NO to confirm Doug Collins as VA Secretary because at this point I have not seen a single cabinet secretary stand up to Trump’s illegal power grab. We should all be deeply concerned about what it could mean to give Elon Musk and his cronies free rein at VA—I am already hearing that DOGE may have barged into VA today.  Musk and his associates already have the personal financial information of every veteran receiving disability or education benefits because of their illegal data mining at the Department of Treasury.  Will they now look at private health records of veterans?  What else will they do that could put the health and safety of our veterans at risk? If Vought and Musk push to cut veterans benefits and limit healthcare eligibility as Project 2025 has outlined—would Doug Collins stand up to them? If this administration continues to press VA doctors, nurses, and support staff to resign—will Collins push back? I cannot confidently say he would.  

“I had a productive meeting with Mr. Collins prior to his hearing and we will need to work together on many issues, including getting the Electronic Health Record system fixed, but I cannot vote to confirm him as Trump dismantles government and breaks the law. As I work with Mr. Collins to support our veterans, I will also be pressing him to follow the laws as intended by Congress.”

Senator Murray was the first woman to join the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee and the first woman to chair the Committee—as the daughter of a World War II veteran, supporting veterans and their families has always been an important priority for her. Senator Murray has fought throughout her career for increased benefits for veterans, housing assistance, better access to veterans’ clinics throughout Washington state, and more accountability from the VA.

Advocating for women veterans in particular has been a longtime focus for Senator Murray, and as Chair of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee in 2010, Senator Murray passed her landmark Women Veterans Health Improvement Act into law. Murray has worked to permanently authorize the VA child care pilot program to increase access to free, quality child care for veterans during their appointments, make much-needed improvements to the women veterans call center, and fix a loophole that left veterans footing the bill for medically-necessary emergency newborn transportation that VA should be covering. Murray introduced and helped pass the Deborah Sampson Act, legislation to address gender disparities at VA that established a dedicated Office of Women’s Health at VA and required every VA health facility to have a dedicated women’s health primary care provider, among other things. Murray also helped to pass the MAMMO Act to expand access to high-quality breast cancer screening and treatment services for veterans. Senator Murray leads the Veteran Families Health Services Act, comprehensive legislation that would expand fertility treatments—including IVF—and family-building services for servicemembers and veterans who are unable to conceive without assistance, and she has sought unanimous consent to pass the legislation on multiple occasions. Last March, Murray applauded VA’s move to expand IVF services to eligible unmarried veterans and eligible veterans in same-sex marriages, and allowing veterans to use donated gametes in IVF services. 

Senator Murray has been conducting oversight on the flawed Electronic Health Record system rollout in Washington state since the Trump Administration first negotiated the contract with Cerner (later acquired by Oracle), and at every point in the process since then. Murray has consistently pushed VA on its failed implementation of EHR—conducting oversight, holding the administration accountable, and calling on VA to halt deployment of EHR until they get it right in Washington state. In March 2023, Murray introduced comprehensive legislation that would require VA to implement a series of EHR reforms to better serve veterans, medical personnel, and taxpayers. In the Fiscal Year 2024 funding bills, Senator Murray negotiated and passed as Chair of the Appropriations Committee stronger language to hold VA and Cerner accountable for the rollout of the EHR system, and in May 2024, she sent a letter urging VA to consider feedback on the system from providers and veterans in Spokane and Walla Walla and reiterating that VA must not move forward on the rollout of EHR until the myriad issues that have plagued the system in the locations where it has been launched are fixed.

###

And we'll note this from Senator Elizabeth Warren's office:

Video of Remarks (YouTube)

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (BHUA), delivered remarks at the Department of the Treasury, responding to Elon Musk’s takeover of government payment systems. 

Transcript: Press Conference - We Choose to Fight: Nobody Elected Elon!
February 4, 2025
As Delivered

Senator Elizabeth Warren: In the building behind me, Elon Musk is seizing power away from the American people. We are here to fight back.

A few months ago, Elon Musk spent $280 million to buy an election for Donald Trump. Now Elon Musk is here to collect on his investment. He is here to seize power for himself. We are here to fight back.

Musk has grabbed control of America’s payment system. This is the system that makes sure that your grandpa gets his Social Security check on time. This is the system that makes sure that your mom’s doctor gets paid for her Medicare exam. Elon wants the power to turn that off as Elon Musk decides. Elon Musk wants the power to say that your grandpa, who frankly is a cranky old guy and sometimes disses Elon on X, doesn’t get his Social Security check on time. Elon Musk wants the power to say that your mom’s doctor is not doing it the way I would, so the doctor doesn’t get paid. Elon Musk wants the power to decide whether or not every road repair in America goes forward, whether or not every Head Start Center in America opens, and whether or not every military base, anywhere in the world, operates according to Elon. Elon Musk wants everyone in America to be at the mercy of Elon Musk. We are here to fight back.

Now, no one elected Elon Musk to nothing. Not one Democrat in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Republican in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Independent in America voted for Elon Musk. Not one Libertarian voted for Elon Musk. Damn, not one vegetarian in America voted for Elon Musk. And yet, Elon Musk is seizing the power that belongs to the American people. We are here to fight back. 

This is no longer business as usual. We will speak out. We will rally. We will power a movement all across this country. Elon Musk wants power and we will fight back.    

###



Trump and MAGA have ushered in the age of stupid as Lawence O'Donnell noted last night on MSNBC. 






None of this nightmare had to happen.  America had the choice between Donald Chump and Kamala Harris.  There is and was a huge difference between the two.  

But here we are.  And we better be doing everything we can think of to avoid 2028's candidate being attacked the way some on the left attacked Kamala Harris.

That means getting ready for nominees.  No, I'm not referring to 'fantasy football' garbae like 'We should run Jon Stewart!'

There are real candidates who want to win.  There's one, in fact, that's always in the news.  Pedro Camacho (LATIN TIMES) reports:


Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez expressed concerns about the Party's messaging and internal dynamics. In the wide-ranging interview, Ocasio-Cortez also described her relationship with the party as "weird" and pointed to a "power struggle" within its ranks.

"I think structurally, overall, the Democratic Party has this confused message," AOC said during a passage of an interview with the Latino USA podcast hosted by Maria Hinojosa. "We're supposed to be a party of the working class, and I think working-class people have not been seeing government work for them, despite a lot of the things that the Biden administration did do."

Ocasio-Cortez went on to argue that what she described as the party's inconsistent messaging contributed to its loss in the 2024 presidential election, adding that while Democrats are a coalition, the party is undergoing an internal battle over its direction:

"I have a weird relationship with the Democratic Party. I don't believe in a two-party system, but I also understand the Democratic Party is a coalition and if we want the party to change, the balance of the coalition has to change. But right now, you open the hood on the Democratic Party, what you have is, I think, a bit of a power struggle over the last couple of years"


I will vote in 2028 for the Democratic Party's presidential nominee no matter who it is.  But crap like the above?  It means I would not vote for AOC in the primary.


Yes, she does "have a weird relationship with the Democratic Party."  That's because she's a Socialist, not a Democrat.   Now Socialists of the SEP will immediately object because they don't want her and think she's weak.  But she is a Socialist.

And I'm really not in the damn mood to have to do this near weekly.  Be a Socialist, be a Democrat, be a Communist, if you're stupid enough then be a swing voter who wrongly self-labels "independent" and you're stupid, cruel and hateful be MAGA.

But don't lie and hide in a political closet.


Betty Friedan hid in a political closet and when she died you could either be honest or be part of the lie.  Gloria Steinem is a Socialist.  I have no idea why she couldn't admit in her prime -- she lied to me, for example -- but now that she's supposedly moved on to her final chapter, I have no idea why she can't be honest.  It's always left to others to clean up the mess that closet cases make.

Gloria, like AOC, is a Democratic Socialist.  



The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a big tent, democratic socialist political organization in the United States.[10] After the Socialist Party of America (SPA) was renamed Social Democrats, USA, Michael Harrington formed the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC).[11] The DSOC later merged with the New American Movement (NAM) to form the DSA.[12] The organization is headquartered in New York City and has about 80,000 members. It leads organizing and protest campaigns, and has members in the House of Representatives, state legislatures, and other local offices.

Upon the organization's founding, Harrington and the socialist feminist author Barbara Ehrenreich were elected co-chairs. After the merger, the DSA became the largest socialist organization in the United States, with a membership of approximately 5,000 ex-DSOC members and 1,000 ex-NAM members.[13]

[. . .]

Members of the DSA have been elected to many governmental offices, including to Congress, where they have initiated various pieces of legislation central to the modern progressive movement in the United States, including the Medicare for All Act in 2003 by John Conyers[37] and the Green New Deal in 2019 by Ocasio-Cortez.[38] Former longtime members of the United States House of Representatives, including Conyers,[39] Ron Dellums,[39] House Whip David Bonior[40] and Major Owens,[41] have been affiliated with the DSA. As of January 2025, the only DSA endorsee in Congress is Rashida Tlaib.[42] Ocasio-Cortez is endorsed by only the New York City chapter.[43][44]


There is the Democratic Party.  I am a Democrat.  We are not Democratic Socialists.  Most on the left in the US are not DSA (Approximately 80,000 people nationwide are DSA -- I spoke with a Green Party official who's a friend and he states that they have a larger number of members and notes that they got over 800,000 votes nationally for president -- those are not all dues paying members but, yes, the Green Party probably does have about ten times the number of members that DSA has.) 




I'm not in the mood if AOC's the nominee in 2028 to go around defending our Democratic Party nominee from right-wing charges of "Socialist!"  If AOC is our nominee, I'm not in the mood to do teach-ins in the months before the general election on what a Socialist -- Democratic Socialist or other -- is.

These are conversations you have now so that when a general election rolls around you can say that this has already been addressed at length. 

She and other DSAers need to stop hiding in political closets and start participating in the public square.

WIKIPEDIA notes, "The dominant position in DSA regards the abolition of capitalism and the realization of socialism as a long-term goal, therefore the organization focuses its immediate political energies on reforms within capitalism that empower working people while decreasing the power of corporations."  Abolishing capitalism is not going to fly with the bulk of voters.  

And that may be why DSA -- that and it's tiny membership of less than 90,000 people in a country with over 300,000,000 people may be why they don't want to be honest and would rather hide in political closets.

AOC could be a great president. 

But part of leadership is leading and leading in the here and now.

In other words, address this.  Don't wait until September 2028 when FOX "NEWS" and others are broadcasting every hour on the hour, "AOC wants to abolish capitalism -- that means she wants to take away your property and that means . . ."

Socialism is something you need to be explaining now.  And you need to be explaining your brand of Socialism because, again, there's DSA, SEP, PSL, etc.


You already lie to the American people with terms like "Justice Democrats."  We can't win with liars.  AOC and others need to come out of the closet.  Bernie never made it to the finish line.  He never moved beyond a candidate in the primaries and that's in part because (a) some people feared socialism and (b) some people didn't know he was a Socialist.  

AOC has here problems and issues with other DSAs.  That's fine.  She may be planning to leave them.  That's fine.  What's not fine is sticking us, in the fall of 2028, with having to note just get-out-the-vote but also to reassure voters in a panic about what she stands for and supports.

Abolishing capitalism is not a winning plank in 2028.  

Most people are not going to support it. Some won't support it arguing what would replace it?  Gore Vidal and I often argued over his opinion that we needed to redo the Constitution.  I disagreed.  I did not believe we would have anything fair replacing it and I argued that the concessions we have as a result of amendments after The Bill of Rights took forever to be added.  So I can certainly identify with any panic that the thought of abolishing capital would cause.  In addition to people like myself who would want a plan on what would replace capitalism, there are people who would say no.  Reasons for the include, the "American dream" which leads so many -- too many? -- to believe that we're all a lotto ticket way from our big pay day.  Then there are those who just fear change.


That I have to waste my time explaining this ticks me off.  But Kyle Kulinski and Cenk wanted to create "Justice Democrats" -- a group of Socialists -- and try to trick the American people.

No.

Say what you are or stay out of the election.  And I'm not in the mood for any closet case candidate that doesn't grasp how their baggage could bury us all.

We have to win in 2028.


We can't afford nonsense.

Again, if AOC wants to come out publicly as a Socialist or explain that she's turned on Socialism, run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.  But don't do it hiding in a closet.  We can't risk 2028.


Yesterday, I posted a 'Bluie' -- is that what they call it? From BLUESKY.  Like a Tweet from Twitter?

It was Ken Silverstein interviewing Eoin Higgins.  I made the headline Ken.  Here's the Bluie.

How did Silicon Valley potty train formerly independent journalism watchdogs Matt Taibbi and Glenn Greenwald? @EoinHiggins_ explains. www.washingtonbabylondc.com/p/the-plot-t...

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— Ken Silverstein (@kensilverstein1.bsky.social) February 4, 2025 at 9:35 AM





It goes to Ken's WASHINGTON BABYLON transcript piece entitled "The Plot to Steal the Media: Send in the Clowns."  And I credited it  here to Ken in the title of the post.

Because I know Ken.

I have no idea who Eoin is.  

He's done, apparently, a good take down of Glenneth Greenwald and Matt Taibbi.  Apparently.  If I do a take down of them -- and I have many times -- I don't leave myself open to a take down from them.

Note this passage of the interview:


KS: It is.


EH: Where he loses me is that liberals are evil and the right is fine, or at least not as bad. And it's like, no, that's not what's going on here. When it came to Trump, Glenn and Taibbi both thought the Russiagate stuff was insane, and I can relate to that, but it reinforced the idea that liberals are the problem here, they’re the Deep State, or whatever terminology they would use, and that animus towards liberals became the most important thing.

I criticize liberals and the Democratic Party all the time. One reason is that I don't care about Republicans in that way, is that I'm not expecting anything from them. Somewhere along the way, Glenn lost that and he probably justifies a lot of like what he does now by saying, I used to be allied with these people and they betrayed the principles that I believed in, so fuck them, and there’s probably some of that with Taibi as well.


Eoin, you do criticize Democrats and liberals all the time.

And, really, isn't that the actual problem?

No, I'm not saying Dems can be criticized.  They should be.  I'm not even tone policing.  I've always speak in your own voices.

But, if you're a Democrat, you probably read what Eoin said one way.  

In the eyes of the far left, "liberal" is a dirty word and it is synonmous with "Democrat."

Eoin wants you to know that he criticizes the right wing including the GOP and that he criticizes Democrats.

And Socialists, Eoin?

Eoin is a Socialist.  I wouldn't be promoting a book rightly calling out Glenneth and Matt while I myself hid in a political closet.  

Eoin, who often contributes to COMMON DREAMS, does not criticize Socialists -- whether he's passing them off as progressives or whatever.

We need to know that if we're going to be news consumers.

Yes, Socialist Eoin will slam everyone on the right and, on the left, he will slam Democrats.  

We saw those people near daily on DEMOCRACY NOW! -- how many times did Amy Goodman bring on members of Uncommitted, for example?  

We aw them and we saw them passed off as people who were fair and objective and we were led to believe we were all on the same page and wanting the same thing.

I don't applaud Chump's attempt to destroy our system of government so hold your breath waiting for me to applaud Medea Benjamin's plans to overturn our government.

We are where we are now because, in the fact of the worst assault on our democracy, the left couldn't pull it together.  We had Socialists attacking Kamala from their political closets.

I'm not in the damn mood.

You want to call out Glenn and Matt?  Do so.  I have repeatedly.

But everyone reading this knows where I stand politically.  20 plus years, it's not hard to find that I identify as a feminist first and then as a Democrat.  

People in political closets passed themselves off as Democrats and THE NATION and DEMOCRACY NOW! and THE PROGRESSIVE et al went out of their way to ensure that took place.  Because a bunch of Socialists slamming Kamala could not create the illusion that "even Democrats are agaisnt her."  The lie and the closet were both necessary to topple our nominee.

I'm not standing for that again.  I will vote in 2028 for whomever the party's nominee is.  If we survive to 2028, I will do that.  

And it could be AOC and I could see voting for her.  But not if she's hiding who and what she is.  It's not our job to try to sell her in October 2028 while also having to explain to the country what a Socialist is.  If she wants to run, she needs to be starting that conversation right now.



Otherwise?

Rashida Tlaib could not be reached for comment

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— Sparky (@sparky52.bsky.social) February 5, 2025 at 6:04 AM


The party that welcomed Rashida was never welcomed back by Rashida who stabbed the Democratic Party in the back becoming the 21st century's Zell Miller in the process.  And, yes, Rashida, there was a difference -- a huge difference -- between Chump and Kamala.  Last night in "Rashida! I must speak to Rashida Tlaib!," Mike noted:




Last week, United States President Donald Trump published a message directed at the student protesters who participated in last year’s pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

It was a warning. And it was aimed specifically at the immigrants among the protesters.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump was quoted as saying in a White House fact sheet.

“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”



What?

What!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wait, you mean Donald Chump isn't a friend to Palestinians!  Or to those who support Palestinians!!!!

Oh, no!!!!!!

D-d-d-does Rashida know?  

Where is Rashida?

Where is she!!!!

I need to talk to Rashida Tlaib!!!!

Can someone help me find Rashida!!!!

Socialist Rashida screwed over the Democratic Party.  Didn't bother her too much because she's not a Democrat.  Maybe that will bother you?  The fact that she lied about being a Democrat.  The fact that she believes in dismantling our way of life?  

I don't know where it ends.  But I do know she was dead wrong.  And now a lot of Palestinians are going to die because of her.  




The following sites updated:




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