GOP Candidate Wants to Take the Vote Away from Nursing Home Residents & Dwayne Johnson's Contradicting Comments
AZ's Near Total Ban on Abortion Angers Kari Lake, Two Republican Dirty Tricksters Used Robocalls to Stop Blacks from Voting, Librarians Face Jail, Bonnie Tyler Sings "Total Eclipse of the Heart"
What I’m Discussing Today:
Kareem’s Daily Quote: What do a Greek politician and Rosa Parks have in common? A keen sense of what legacy is really about.
Arizona reinstated a 160-year-old abortion ban: The guys who passed it in 1864 also established that ten was the age of consent for girls to have sex. Discuss.
Trump’s Pick for Wisconsin Senator Suggests Nursing Home Residents Shouldn’t Vote: Apparently, he doesn’t think they’re going to live long enough to deserve to have a say in things.
Operatives must pay up to $1.25 million for robocall scheme to suppress Black votes: These two have been attempting to subvert elections across the country. Why aren’t they in prison?
Dwayne Johnson regrets endorsing Joe Biden in 2020, says cancel culture 'really bugs' him: 'Tears me up': I love Johnson as an entertainer, but not too thrilled about these disingenuous and contradictory statements.
Kareem’s Video Break: Looking for love in all the right places.
Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books: Do you want to live in a society that jails librarians for providing books that some politicians don’t like?
Bonnie Tyler Sings “Total Eclipse of the Heart”: One of the best power ballads ever recorded. Go ahead and sing along. You know you want to.
Kareem’s Daily Quote
What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives of others.
Pericles (495-429 BCE)
Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.
Rosa Parks (1913-2005)
Almost 2,500 years separated the Greek politician Pericles and the American activist Rosa Parks, but they had the same basic idea. A person’s legacy is most profoundly imprinted on society and in history, not by the accumulation of wealth and power, but by the personal impact they’ve had on individuals. A small kindness can reverberate through the centuries as those who observed the act or benefited from it duplicate it for others. The unprompted generosity others have expressed towards me without expecting anything in return has left an indelible memory more vivid than any championship game I’ve played.
When I see the arrogance of wealthy individuals who think that their vast companies, their names on anything and everything, and the huddled toadies who lavish unearned praise will earn them an immortal legacy, I think of Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” in which a traveler describes the giant statue of two legs he discovered in the desert with the engraving: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;/Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” That is their legacy: Two stumps in an endless desert and a name that no one remembers with love.
I don’t care if anyone remembers my name or my accomplishments or my jersey number, only that I did small things that gave others fond memories that they could recall when they needed. And maybe made them want to do the same for others.
Arizona reinstated a 160-year-old abortion ban (The New York Times)
SUMMARY: Arizona’s highest court on Tuesday upheld an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions, a decision that could have far-reaching consequences for women’s health care and election-year politics in a critical battleground state.
The 1864 law, the court said in a 4-to-2 decision, “is now enforceable.” But the court put its ruling on hold for the moment, and sent the matter back to a lower court to hear additional arguments about the law’s constitutionality.
Because of a 14-day stay and another 45-day delay before enforcement, it will very likely be weeks before the law goes into effect.
The Arizona Supreme Court said that because the federal right to abortion in Roe v. Wade had been overturned, there was no federal or state law preventing Arizona from enforcing the near-total ban on abortions, which had sat dormant for decades.
…The ruling concerned a law that was on the books long before Arizona achieved statehood. It outlaws abortion from the moment of conception, except when necessary to save the life of the mother, and it makes no exceptions for rape or incest. Doctors prosecuted under the law could face fines and prison terms of two to five years.
MY TAKE: In 2020, when a Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot in the back by police in front of his three children, NBA Coach Doc Rivers responded by asking the ultimate question: “We keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.” Women in the U.S. should be asking the same question. No matter how much education they get, no matter how many become CEOs or governors or senators, there is a dark attitude that doesn’t value women as much as men. Of course, those who are most oppressive are the most defensive, proclaiming they are women’s protectors and boosters and blah, blah, blah. But the reality is that they value a clump of cells more than the life of a woman, and they certainly don’t value their ability to choose for themselves.
It’s even more heinous as politicians who campaigned for severe abortion restrictions react to the Arizona decision now that they know it might hurt them in the upcoming election. Kari Lake, who is running for an Arizona Senate seat, was outraged even though she had supported the same 1864 ban two years ago, calling it a “great law.”
Now that she sees the impact on her campaign, she’s called on the Legislature and Ms. Hobbs to “come up with an immediate common sense solution.” Of course, her idea of “common sense” is restricting abortion access. She said in a statement: “I am the only woman and mother in this race. I wholeheartedly agree with President Trump—this is a very personal issue that should be determined by each individual state and her people.”
First, she agrees that each state should decide on its abortion policy. Isn’t that what just happened? Arizona is deciding through its judicial system. Maybe Lake believes Arizonians should decide by vote, in which case 62% of Arizonians think abortion should be legal in all or most cases. So, what exactly is she saying?
Second, she admitted it’s a “personal issue.” Therefore, the individual person should make the choice they think is best for themselves. But that’s not what she wants the law to say.
Third, the fact that she is the only candidate who is a mother and woman isn’t relevant, though it is a curiosity that she wishes to restrict the right to choose for other women (and mothers).
We would do well to remember that the same geniuses who agreed to this law back during the Civil War, also made ten years old the legal age of consent for girls to have sex.
The notion that this issue should be left up to the states is as repulsive as leaving whether or not to have slavery up to the states. This is, in fact, a form of gender slavery that at least 15 states have already endorsed. The fact that almost no one dares to push for a constitutional amendment to allow women to choose only emphasizes Doc Rivers’ words as they apply to women: “We keep loving this country, and this country does not love us back.”
UPDATE: On April 10, Republicans blocked several efforts to repeal the law, claiming they need more time to consider the ramifications. They even blocked an attempt by a fellow Republican. An issue isn’t the law, it’s who will be able to take credit for repealing it. Republicans haven’t yet figured out how much of a restriction they can get away with without alienating voters in November.
Trump’s Pick for Wisconsin Senator Suggests Nursing Home Residents Shouldn’t Vote (The Daily Beast)
SUMMARY: Eric Hovde, a Republican candidate for Senate in Wisconsin, floated the bizarre idea that people in nursing homes should be disenfranchised because they’re simply too close to death to be “in a point to vote.” In a recent interview on Fox News’ Guy Benson Show, Hovde, who picked up a key endorsement from Donald Trump last week, was asked about the former president’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen. “Do I believe the election was stolen? No, but did things happen in that election that were very troublesome? Absolutely,” Hovde responded, according to audio published by the Heartland Signal on Monday. “And I can point them out right here in Wisconsin.” The businessman went on to point out that one of these supposed irregularities was the high turnout in nursing homes. “We had nursing homes—where the sheriff of Racine investigated—where you had 100 percent voting in nursing homes,” he said. “Well, if you’re in a nursing home, you only have a five, six-month life expectancy. Almost nobody in a nursing home is in a point to vote. And you had children, adult children showing up saying, ‘Who voted for my 85 or 90-year-old father or mother?’” Hovde is looking to unseat Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).
MY TAKE: There’s a famous movie called D.O.A., first made in 1950, then remade in 1988 with Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. The story involves a man who was poisoned and has only 36 hours to live, so sets about to solve the mystery of who murdered him. In the 1988 version, Quaid leads a life of disappointment: he’s a failed writer, a terrible professor, and cheats on his wife. He’s living a sad life in which he’s already dead inside. During those 36 hours, he falls in love, makes moral choices, and becomes the man he should have been. All while every bad person involved in the conspiracy against him is killed. He lives more of his life in that short time than he ever did before—and he outlives all the villains.
I bring this up because I think about this movie whenever I get too comfortable thinking about delaying showing love and appreciation until sometime in the future. No one knows how much future we have. If Hovde was diagnosed with terminal cancer with only a year to live, should we take away his right to vote because he doesn’t have much time invested in the future? Of course not. How much time we have left is never the issue.
But what’s troubling here is his desire to take away the rights of people who have spent a lifetime contributing to this country based on a physical attribute: age. That’s the basis of sexism, racism, and pretty much most of the bad isms.
Other than the basic lack of humanity, Hovde shows a basic lack of critical thinking skills: 1. He claims that high turnout in voting in nursing homes is an indication of fraud. Maybe. But he offers no evidence except Trump’s favorite form of “proof,” hearsay: “I hear that...” 2. High turnout could be because, given the level of immobility, they pay more attention to politics and can conveniently vote. 3. I worry about his problem-solving abilities. Even if there was some fraud, the goal should be to uncover it, not deny everyone in nursing homes the vote. By this logic, when Brian Pritchard, first vice chairman of the Georgia GOP, was recently found guilty of voting illegally nine times, we should deny all GOP officials the right to vote.
Is this the guy who should be a senator?
Operatives must pay up to $1.25 million for robocall scheme to suppress Black votes (The Washington Post)
SUMMARY: Two right-wing political operatives must pay up to $1.25 million in fines after they were found liable for launching a robocall campaign designed to keep Black New Yorkers from voting in the 2020 election, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Tuesday.
Jacob Wohl and Jack Burkman, who have a history of concocting conspiracy theories to try to smear Democrats, were found liable last March of orchestrating a robocall campaign that reached about 5,500 predominantly Black New Yorkers in the summer of 2020. Targeted voters received automated calls — purportedly from a “civil rights organization” founded by Wohl and Burkman called “Project 1599” — that sought to dissuade them from mail-in voting.
The messages included false warnings that mail-in voting would cause their personal information to be given to police departments and credit card companies.
“Mail-in voting sounds great, but did you know that if you vote by mail, your personal information will be part of a public database that will be used by police departments to track down old warrants and be used by credit card companies to collect outstanding debts?” one such robocall message stated, according to a transcript provided by the attorney general’s office. “The CDC is even pushing to use records for mail-in voting to track people for mandatory vaccines.”
The message concluded: “Don’t be finessed into giving your private information to the man, stay safe and beware of vote by mail.”
Under a settlement agreement, Wohl and Burkman must pay a $1 million judgment to the New York attorney general’s office, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and the individual plaintiffs who were harmed by their scheme. All three groups together filed a lawsuit against Wohl and Burkman in 2021.
…Wohl and Burkman have also been charged in other states for launching similar robocall schemes targeting Black voters in 2020. In 2022, an Ohio judge ordered the pair to each pay a $2,500 fine and to work 500 hours registering voters in Washington. Wohl and Burkman have also been charged with felonies in Michigan for targeting predominantly Black voters in Detroit with the same robocalls.
“This robocall is an egregious example of voter suppression, targeting Black voters with flat-out lies meant to intimidate them from going to the polls and expressing their voice in our democracy,” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel said in November.
MY TAKE: These two are also responsible for publicizing false claims to smear special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Wohl perpetuated the lie that Vice President Harris’ parents’ immigration status made her ineligible to run for office.
When political dirty tricks rise to the level of subverting democracy, that’s a form of treason. Not technically, but certainly philosophically. The country isn’t based on “I’m right so that justifies winning at any cost.” It’s based on all the parties sharing their ideas and letting the people choose which to follow. But with so much money and power at stake, winning at any cost has become the dominant ethic of many in politics.
Wohl and Burkman are merely the political thugs of the GOP. The responsibility for their illegal and anti-democratic activity goes higher. Still, in the meantime, let’s punish who we’ve got with a lot more than fines.
RELATED: “Lara Trump’s RNC robocall falsely claims ‘massive fraud’ in 2020 election” (The Guardian)
SUMMARY: The Republican National Committee sent out a scripted robocall on behalf of its new co-chair Lara Trump, falsely claiming Democrats were guilty of “massive fraud” in the 2020 election.
MY TAKE: As always, I’m stunned that the RNC, under another Trump, can lie so directly to the public without being arrested or sued. I’m even more stunned that the average Republican, knowing their leadership doesn’t mind lying and undermining democracy just to get votes, still supports them.
Dwayne Johnson regrets endorsing Joe Biden in 2020, says cancel culture 'really bugs' him: 'Tears me up' (The Daily Beast)
SUMMARY: Dwayne Johnson endorsed Joe Biden during his 2020 election campaign — but now he says he regrets that decision, and won’t be making political endorsements again anytime soon.
The Black Adam star expressed remorse about his political past and cast skepticism on the state of the nation in an interview with Fox News’ Will Cain this week. “Am I happy with the state of America right now? Well, that answer’s no,” he said. “Do I believe we’re gonna get better? I believe in that. I’m an optimistic guy, and I believe we can get better."
Johnson continued, "The endorsement that I made years ago with Biden was one I thought was the best decision for me at that time… And I thought back then, when we talk about, 'Hey, you know, I'm in this position where I have some influence and it's my job then … to exercise my influence and share… this is who I'm going to endorse.'"
But Johnson has shifted his perspective. “Am I gonna do that again this year? That answer is no, I’m not gonna do that, because what I realized — what that caused back then — was something that tears me up in my guts, back then and now, which is division,” he said. “And that got me. The takeaway after that, months and months and months, I started to realize, like, ‘Oh man, that caused an incredible amount of division in our country.’”
The Pain & Gain actor further explained his reasoning for not endorsing either candidate this year.
“I realize now going into this election, I’m not gonna do that, and I wouldn’t do that because my goal is to bring our country together,” he said. “There’s gonna be no endorsement. Not that I’m afraid of it at all, but it’s just, I realize that this level of influence, I’m gonna keep my politics to myself. And I think it’s between me and the ballot box."
…Elsewhere in his Fox interview, Johnson decried cancel culture. “Today’s easy cancel-culture world, and cancel culture, woke culture, this culture, that culture, division, et cetera, that really bugs me,” he said. “In the spirit of that, you either succumb and be what you think other people want you to be, or you go, ‘Well, no, that’s not who I am. I’m gonna be myself, and I’m gonna be real.’ If you ask me something, a real answer is important, and the truthful answer’s important. And that may get people upset, it may piss people off, and that’s okay.”
MY TAKE: Like most of America, I’m a huge fan of Johnson. I’ve seen all of his movies and TV shows. (I’ve even favorably reviewed both.) But his comments about endorsements and cancel culture do not get a favorable review.
I completely agree with him that he is under no obligation to endorse anyone. If he wants to keep his politics private, he should.
However, it’s naive to think that because he’s not endorsing a candidate, he’s not influencing the election. First, he’s conducting this interview on Fox, which is a surrogate for Trump. Second, by stating that he won’t endorse Biden and that it was a mistake to do so before, he’s subtly endorsing Trump. When you endorse a candidate one time and then make a splashy public statement that you won’t endorse him again, you’re meant to do damage to his campaign. It’s disingenuous to imply he’s staying out of the race.
Johnson’s claim that his endorsement caused divisiveness is also flimsy logic. There already was divisiveness. There has always been political divisiveness in this country because that’s the nature of having a democracy. Since the sixties, people have been more vocal about their differences because they became less submissive to the government, less trusting. For good reason. The Pentagon Papers and the Nixon Tapes revealed just how extensively the people were being lied to. Trump’s documented 30,000 lies, including one about the seriousness of COVID-19, has only perpetuated this distrust. Social media allows more people to express their opinions, which gives the impression of greater divisiveness when in fact it’s just the usual.
Johnson’s reaction to “cancel culture” is equally vague and baffling. It’s a buzz phrase among conservatives that riles them up, even as they go about canceling books in schools, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and suppressing the votes of Blacks, the elderly, and students. I agree with him that sometimes companies are too quick to fire someone based on a political comment, but he never gives any examples, so we don’t know what he’s specifically referring to. Insurrectionists? Comedians?
He says, “If you ask me something, a real answer is important, and the truthful answer’s important. And that may get people upset, it may piss people off, and that’s okay.” Wait, isn’t upsetting people and pissing them off causing the very divisiveness he wants to prevent? And is it being “real” to pretend not to be endorsing a candidate while subtly endorsing one?
Of course, none of this changes my commitment to watching his shows. He’s still one of the most entertaining performers around. I wouldn’t cancel him just for making dubious and contradictory statements.
Kareem’s Video Break
Sometimes love can come from unexpected sources. But it’s no less heartwarming wherever it comes from. Yup, the baby elephant is heavy, but she doesn’t seem to mind.
Librarians fear new penalties, even prison, as activists challenge books (AP News)
SUMMARY: When an illustrated edition of Margaret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” was released in 2019, educators in Clayton, Missouri needed little debate before deciding to keep copies in high school libraries. The book is widely regarded as a classic work of dystopian literature about the oppression of women, and a graphic novel would help it reach teens who struggle with words alone.
But after Missouri legislators passed a law in 2022 subjecting librarians to fines and possible imprisonment for allowing sexually explicit materials on bookshelves, the suburban St. Louis district reconsidered the new Atwood edition, and withdrew it.
“There’s a depiction of a rape scene, a handmaid being forced into a sexual act,” says Tom Bober, Clayton district’s library coordinator and president of the Missouri Association of School Librarians. “It’s literally one panel of the graphic novel, but we felt it was in violation of the law in Missouri.”
Across the country, book challenges and bans have soared to the highest levels in decades. Public and school-based libraries have been inundated with complaints from community members and conservative organizations such as as Moms for Liberty. Increasingly, lawmakers are considering new punishments — crippling lawsuits, hefty fines, and even imprisonment — for distributing books some regard as inappropriate.
The trend comes as officials seek to define terms such as “obscene” and “harmful.” Many of the conflicts involve materials featuring racial and/or LGBTQ+ themes, such as Toni Morrison’s novel, “The Bluest Eye,” and Maia Kobabe’s memoir, “Gender Queer.” And while no librarian or educator has been jailed, the threat alone has led to more self-censorship.
Already this year, lawmakers in more than 15 states have introduced bills to impose harsh penalties on libraries or librarians.
MY TAKE: Libraries are where we store past triumphs and mistakes, where we honor artists who inspire and enlighten us, and where we display the broad spectrum of ideas that give life meaning beyond just surviving. Those who love libraries do so because their lives have been enriched by the books that we share inside its walls. Those who want to restrict libraries don’t seem to have the same intimate relationship with books or ideas or freedom. Their aspirations rise no higher than telling others they can’t read books they themselves have never read.
If you want to know how much a society values freedom or intellect or learning, look at their libraries. A society that encourages its children to explore ideas and push themselves beyond what has come before, is a society that will thrive.
The right-wing Heritage Foundation’s president, Kevin Roberts, wrote that the “people who produce and distribute it should be imprisoned. Educators and public librarians who purvey it should be classed as registered sex offenders.” Various states have enacted laws to punish librarians with fines and imprisonment. The end goal is to reduce libraries to servants of conservative ideals, which is the opposite of what the country stands for. Which they would know if they actually read the books in the libraries they never visit.
I spent much of my youth in libraries learning about the Black history that was never taught in my school. Without libraries, I would never have known who I was or where I came from. Some of the books that right-wingers want to ban are those same books that help students know themselves better, form empathy for others, and make them feel less isolated. Any attempt to keep children from experiencing that is a form of child abuse.
Kareem’s Jukebox Playlist
Bonnie Tyler: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (1983)
The other day I was reading this fascinating history of “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Time (“The Long, Strange History Behind Bonnie Tyler’s Epic ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’”) and it reminded me just what an amazingly powerful and emotional song it is. Written by Jim Steinman, one of rock’s most innovative songwriters, the single sold over six million copies. Although Steinman wrote many of Meat Loaf’s hit songs, he claims he wrote this song specifically for Bonnie Tyler, “a Wagnerian-like onslaught of sound and emotion. I wrote it to be a showpiece for her voice.” When Steinman presented the song to Tyler, she recalled, “I just had shivers right up my spine...I couldn't wait to actually get in and record it.” The video of the song has more than one billion views on YouTube.
Tyler’s wailing raspiness—the result of surgery to remove vocal cord nodules—gives an urgent longing necessary for such a theatrical piece. The song cycles through so many emotional highs and lows that it’s both exhausting and satisfying. One of the best power ballads ever recorded.
Iid like to understand how endorsing a candidate who stands for democracy and inclusiveness contributes to division. Supporting Joe Biden is not the same as promoting the extreme fringe of cancel culture. Why doesn't Dwayne Johnson see that? And why choose Fox news, itself a platform for divisiveness, as the place to announce his decision?
Happy birthday!
I’m troubled by Dwayne Johnson’s comments. Could he point to anything in Joe Biden’s words or acts that have been divisive. If Johnson is so concerned about “wokeness” or “cancel culture”, perhaps he should look at what is actually being canceled around the country, things like women’s reproductive rights.