I'm With AOC

Not only is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez savvy politically, she's adroit tactically.  Here's how AOC responded to a recent bit of disinformation from Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Sean Hannity.

The Stuff of Nightmares

This coming Sunday, the 27th of January, will be International Holocaust Remembrance Day.  In anticipation of that event, Library and Archives Canada purchased a 137-page report compiled in 1944 by German linguist and researcher Heinz Kloss.  Kloss used 1930s population data to produce a personalized census of the Jewish population in North America, as well as information about Jewish organizations and newspapers.

The events of several weeks ago at the Tree of Life Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh came immediately to mind when I stumbled upon the mention of the Kloss compilation.  L&A Canada plans to put selections from the report online shortly; I'll let you know when that happens.  But even reading only the material linked to above will make your blood run cold.

As does the fact that. in 2018, about a third of Americans murdered by far-right extremists were Jewish .

If a Politician Caves in the Rose Garden ...

... does he make a sound? Today, when Donald Trump announced that he's agreed to reopen the Federal government, his surrender to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, was stentorian .

10 Stations Past Out-of-Touch

Nicolle Wallace of MSNBC nailed it when she referred to Wilbur Ross's quintessentially insensitive comments today.  She described them and him as 10 stations past out of touch.

All in All, Just Another Brick in the Wall

The wall?  Donald Trump's efforts to make reality conform to his delusions.  He still doesn't get the idea that the House of Representatives is a branch of government equal in status to him.

The brick?  Nancy Pelosi's concerns about the State of the Union address, and her authority as Speaker of the House.  Apparently Mr. Trump couldn't conceive of anyone standing their ground in opposition to him.  When Pelosi did, Trump responded with major cojones  - accusing Speaker Pelosi and Congressional Democrats of being unwilling to recognize truth, and accusing Senator Charles Schumer of being weakened by the Speaker.  (AKA emasculated).

Before you label that last description, and some of the other language in this piece, as crude, remember the  Access Hollywood tape, and try to convince me that Donald Trump's mind is not a complete sinkhole.

A Golden Oldie

A bit more than five years ago, I was still blogging for the USW.  One of those pieces remains relevant today, particularly in light of the fact that the current partial shutdown of the Federal government has affected and may continue to affect those who receive SNAP, AKA food stamp, benefits.

When the piece was written, I relied on SNAP for about half my monthly grocery budget.  I still do.  Read what's below in light of that.

Let me start with a brief bio.  I’m newly retired.  Social Security leaves me a couple hundred dollars short each month, so I plan to apply for the SNAP program – that is, for food stamps.

The instinct of some to condemn SNAP participants as freeloaders or criminals is troubling.  I’m neither.  I have a Master’s degree in Computer Information Science.  I taught for over 20 years at various institutions of higher education.  The lack of a doctorate cost me jobs, though, and now causes me to have to rely on food stamps to supplement my income.

Despite millions of SNAP participants having stories like mine, we’re seeing a trend.  When the poor or middle class object to preferential treatment for the rich, it's called class warfare.  But when the very-well-to-do refer to food stamp recipients as welfare queens, it’s okay.

Here’s the reality.  On average, an individual receives about $133 per month in food stamps.  That works out to about $4 per day.

Any government action that discourages fraud is, of course, worthwhile.  But there's no evidence SNAP is out of control.  It helps feed more than 40 million Americans at an annual cost of $64 billion, or about $1,600 per person per year.  That’s hardly exorbitant.  Rather, it emphasizes the hardships created by the worst recession in several decades.

And, one might add today, the hardships induced by the Trump Shutdown.

A Failed Analogy

I can't think of anything more bizarre and offensive than Mike Pence's recent attempt to compare Donald Trump's motivations to those of Martin Luther King, Jr.