The Bizarre World of Politics #257
By Hank Silverberg
Sometimes after reading or watching the news for a week, I just have to sigh and do a faceplant. Some things are just ridiculous, others are horrifying.
Take Missouri for example: It may be the "Show Me" state, but there are now a few things you can't show in the state capitol building. Republicans control the House of Representatives there, and this week they stripped women of the right to bare arms. No, that's not a typo, and we are not talking about the Second Amendment. The lawmakers voted 105-51 to enforce a dress code that requires men to "wear business attire, including coat, tie, dress trousers and dress shoes or boots." For female lawmakers the dress code says they too shall wear "business attire, including jackets worn with dresses, skirts or slacks, and dress shoes or boots." The code forbids women to wear outfits that include bare arms. It's almost like high school in the 1970's, though there's nothing about the length of the skirts or the tightness of their jackets.
There is irony since the bill was introduced by and promoted by a female lawmaker.
https://www.commondreams.org/news/missouri-house-women-arms
So, there will be 119 men trying to decide if what the 43 women sitting with them are wearing is appropriate or not. It comes from the same Republican party that recites a daily mantra about too much big government and government intrusion into our lives. And it comes from the same people who protested agressively about a mandate to wear masks during the pandemic.
Frankly, to me it sounds like the Taliban have infiltrated Missouri. Better cover up those ankles, ladies.
They are NOT talking about coming into your house and taking away your gas stove. If and when such a ban ever happens there will be a phase-out period similar to what they did years ago with leaded gasoline. It will not be easy, since the use of gas for stoves approaches 70% in some states.
It's logical to assume, after hearings and lots of discussion, the likely outcome will be new standards for emissions on gas stoves like they have done with other products, such as automobiles.
But all this produced a lot of screaming from GOP politicians and pundits on Twitter and elsewhere about big government intruding on our lives. I mean, God forbid if our government should actually take action to improve the health of our children.
But you can rest easy. The world is safe since the women of Missouri's legislature will never again expose anyone to bare arms. Politics gets more bizarre daily.
Secret Documents Apparently Aren't That Secret
The big news of the week was the revelation that some documents marked "Secret," or "Top Secret" have been discovered in an office President Biden used after he left the Vice-Presidency, but before he was elected President. And even more such documents were found locked up in a garage at his home in Delaware.
That comes after the incident with former President Trump, who had stashed similar "Top Secret" documents in a room at his home in Florida and refused to turn them over, which resulted in the FBI coming to get them.
There's lots of political rhetoric about whether Trump of Biden is guilty of a crime and how and when the documents were discovered. A special prosecutor has been appointed in BOTH cases to look into whether any of it was criminal or just careless. The Justice Department did the right thing appointing a Special Prosecutor for each case, and let the investigations there fall where they may.
There could be a national security risk in BOTH cases, and frankly that should be the focus of any congressional investigation.
Why were any of these documents ever taken out of the White House in the first place? Who might have read them besides Biden or Trump (although Trump rarely read anything) and who had access after both men left office? Biden was out of office for four years before he became President. Trump was out of office for more than a year before the FBI went and got the documents the National Archives had been searching for.
We will, of course, never know what is actually in them since they are marked "Secret," but we would like a general idea of what they were about.
Who asks the questions? Who reviews them? My vote is for the Senate Intelligence Committee, very capably chaired by Virginia Democrat Mark Warner. (Marco Rubio is the Ranking Republican member.) That committee remains bipartisan and less subject to the political nonsense we are seeing from the new Republican leadership on the House side.
This type of security issue should go way beyond "got-ya" politics. Our allies may be very nervous about it and our enemies like Iran, Russia, North Korea, very pleased.
Antisemitism On The Rise!
The future of America's democracy may be more threatened right now by internal forces rather than a foreign enemy.
As the century turned two decades ago, widespread antisemitism in the United States seemed to be disappearing. The Boomer generation, the sons and
The survey looked at 14 tropes about Jews to try to pinpoint the special nature of antisemitism, which seems to be spiking among young people in particular.
Here are some examples:
Four in ten Americans believe that Jews are more loyal to Israel than to the United States, echoing a statement that former President Donald Trump had raised a few times.
Seven out of ten Americans believe Jewish Americans stick together as a group more than other hyphenated Americans do.
More than one third of those surveyed think Jews don't share their values and "like to be at the head of things."
One in five believe Jews have "too much power in the United States," don't care what happens to others and are more willing than other Americans to use "shady practices to get what they want."
The figures are even higher for young people.
Of those aged 18 to 30, 18 % said six of the 14 tropes were true and 39% said two to five of the tropes were true.
Three percent said all of the original 14 statements were mostly or somewhat true. That would add up to eight million people who express antisemitic views.
The Jewish population of the United States is just over 5.8 million.
What has made the difference from 50 years ago?
Of those surveyed, 90% agreed "Israel has the right to defend itself against those who want to destroy it," and 79% agreed Israel is a "strong U.S. ally in the Middle East."
But at the same time, 40 % of those surveyed agreed with a statement that Israel "treats Palestinians like Nazis treated the Jews," and only 17% disagreed with the statement, "I am comfortable spending time with people who openly support Israel."
This survey was taken just before Israel installed the most far-right government in its history, which has sparked massive anti-government protests within Israel for the first time. You can see the full results of the survey here: https://www.adl.org/resources/report/antisemitic-attitudes-america-topline-findings .
(The survey was conducted in September and October from a national sample of 4007 adults)
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/01/12/antisemitism-anti-defamation-league-survey/
Dumbest Quote of The week!
She doesn't hold public office having lost her attempt to become Governor of Arizona. But this week's dumbest quote goes to Kari Lake, who lost the election this past November.
"America will 'turn into a Venezuela' unless a judge installs me as governor."
Lake made the comments on a right-wing radio show where she also talked about her efforts to continue to challenge the election results. On Twitter she provided a link for people to contribute money.
There have been NO irregularities found in the voting in Arizona. Some people just can't accept that they lost.
(Your comments and suggestions are welcome)
HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)
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