Twenty years ago on Oct. 10, the House of Representatives voted to approve the Iraq Resolution, formally known as the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. The Senate voted for it two days later on Oct. 12.
Back in 2007, several bloggers raised the matter of right-wing violence should the Democrats—and therefore a Black man named Barack Obama—win the November 2008 election. Among them were digby, Rick Perlstein, and David Neiwert, an expert on militias and right-wing extremists who now writes for Daily Kos. A good deal of the reception to these assertions was … skeptical. Some critics ridiculed these three and the others of us raising the issue.
Back at the beginning of the Obama administration in 2009, Democratic Congressmen Chris Van Hollen of Maryland and Ed Markey of Massachusetts proposed a national green bank to spur investments in climate-friendly energy as part of the American Clean Energy and Security Act.
In a letter Friday, more than 360 environmental and community organizations asked President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to “Hold the line against fossil fuel expansion” and oppose what one signatory—the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD)—labeled fossil fuel “poison pills” tucked into the final pages of the 725-page Inflation Reduction Act hammered out behind the scenes by Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin.
What a big surprise that The New York Times’ resident climate science denier Bret Stephens thinks the Supreme Court’s ruling in West Virginia v.
Plenty of people have already expressed their sad and righteous fury at the totally expected Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. EPA, the latest in its long roster of reactionary and lethal decisions this session. I’ve had a few things to say too.
The Supreme Court just decided to pour gasoline on a planet afire and to slash the tires of the fire trucks.
Companies around the planet are suing for big bucks under trade agreements in their fight against climate action and playing pretend with “net zero” pledges. Many national, state, and local administrations are pushing climate-addressing goals onto the back burner in the face of war, supply chain ailments, and high prices at the gas pump. These problems, of course, are all woven together.
Manchin wreckEd latest move to reform 150-YEAR-OLD MINING LAW
Sen. Joe Manchin III has got a lot of reasons for that smile.
In the last year of his first term as president, Ulysses S. Grant signed the 1872 Mining Law that set modest rules for individuals and corporations to stake mineral claims on land never before in private hands. That is, land snatched at gunpoint from Indigenous peoples.
AS the CLIMATE SUMMIT APPROACHES, U.S. ACTIONS YET TO MATCH WORDS
While the search continues to uncover just how small a fraction of the Biden administration’s proposed climate funding Sen. Joe Manchin III is willing to vote to include in the Democratic reconciliation bill, there is much wondering around the planet about what exactly the United States will bring to the COP26 climate summit that begins in Glasgow, Scotland, less than two weeks from now.
Last week, Ford Motor Co. debuted its Ford Lightning, an F-150 pickup truck that is all-electric. Many people went bananas. Now, they said, we’ll really see EVs take-off because we’ve got an automobile manufacturer that knows how to build a truck that looks like a truck, not that goofy futuristic Tesla Cybertruck.
Before I go farther, this is not about Elon Musk, certainly no paean to him.
This is the final edition of Night Owls, a themed open thread
that has appeared at Daily Kos since 2007.
Bob Berwyn at Inside Climate News writes—Climate Change is Weakening the Ocean Currents That Shape Weather on Both Sides of the Atlantic.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Ari Berman at Mother Jones writes—Republicans Are Taking Their Voter Suppression Efforts to New Extremes From Georgia to Iowa. Republicans are concocting new ways to suppress Democratic votes:
After record turnout in 2020, Republican-controlled states appear to be in a race to the bottom to see who can pass the most egregious new barriers to voting.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
At The New Republic, Nick Martin (a citizen of the Sappony Tribe) writes—Deb Haaland’s Ascent and the Complicated Legacy of Native Representation. The congresswoman from New Mexico could make history if confirmed as head of the Department of the Interior. But there’s more to the story than that.
Deb Haaland could be the next secretary of the interior.
YouTube Video
Be warned that there are a few long pauses.
You can read the text of Biden’s speech here.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Naomi Klein at The New York Times writes—Why Texas Republicans Fear the Green New Deal.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Caitlin Cruz at The New Republic writes—I’m Tired of Living Through Extraordinary Times in Texas. As a devastating storm hit my home state, we relied on mutual aid as our elected officials showed their true face:
The state turned away from us; we turned toward each other.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week
Jessica Corbett at Common Dreams writes—’Congress Must End This National Embarrassment,’ Says Sanders After CBO Reveals High Drug Prices for Medicare Part D:
Sen.
We haven’t heard yet from the bomb-bomb-bomb Iran faction, but we can expect to in the wake of this week’s flurry of coordinated diplomatic moves by the Biden administration and European nations regarding Iran.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Philip Eil at the Columbia Journalism Review writes—What the Trump administration meant for freedom of information requests:
THE ELECTION OF DONALD TRUMP PROMISED AN EPIC TEST for the Freedom of Information Act. On one side, the powerful, yet deeply flawed, transparency law that turned 50 years old a few months before Trump’s 2016 election.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Alex Shephard at The Nation writes—Rush Limbaugh Made America Worse. The racist, sexist radio host played a pivotal role in injecting cruelty and conspiracy into conservative mass media:
Twenty-five years ago, Rush Limbaugh graced the cover of Time magazine.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
When Yale Professor of environmental sociology Dorceta E. Taylor wrote The State of Diversity in Environmental Organizations in 2014, she learned that minorities made up just 14.6% of the staff of environmental organizations even though people of color make up 38% of the U.S. population.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Robert Reich writes—Out of the Ashes of Trump, Will the U.S. Finally Bury Reaganism? Ronald Reagan convinced the nation that big government was the problem. It was rubbish.
Republican infighting has created a political void into which Democrats are stepping with far-reaching reforms.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
In response to reports that the Biden administration has launched a formal review of the future of the Guantánamo Bay detention facility, Daphne Eviatar, Director of the Security with Human Rights Program at Amnesty International USA, released the following statement:
“We are pleased to hear that the Biden administration wants to review the U.S.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Alex Shephard at The New Republic writes—The Press’s Strange Memory-Holing of Trump’s First Impeachment. His second impeachment trial is being presented as a cut-and-dried case, in contrast to its predecessor.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Cameron Oglesby at Grist writes—The generational rift over ‘intersectional environmentalism’
New eras are often marked by changes in language.
Whereas the Trump administration was calling natural gas “molecules of freedom,” the Biden administration has gone all-in on “environmental justice.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Mark Courtney and Shanta Trivedi at The Appeal write—The Case for Providing Guaranteed Income to Kids Aging out of Foster Care:
More and more in America, young adults rely on their parents and other relatives for housing and financial support well into their 20s.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Jake Johnson at Common Dreams writes—As DeJoy Readies New Assault on Postal Service, Pressure Grows for Biden to ‘Clean House’.
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Gabrielle Gurley at The American Prospect writes—The Long and Winding Road to Replacing the Gas Tax. Can Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg convince Congress that road user fees are the next big revenue thing?
Pete Buttigieg has parachuted in for a soft landing at the Department of Transportation. There were no Betsy DeVos-esque moments at the Rhodes Scholar’s confirmation hearing.
