03/08/23

Good morning! It’s Wednesday, March 8th. International Women’s Day.

Ya hear that, men? Ladies to the front!

We’ve got our day. Next up… just feel free to go ahead and put us in the Constitution.

No worries if not.

And now, the news.

Oklahoma Fails to Pass Marijuana Bill

-via NY Times

In “It’d be a whole lot cooler if you did” news… while votes are still being counted, it appears that Oklahoma voters are giving the thumbs down emoji to recreational marijuana use. The state does allow for the sale of medical marijuana, but apparently would like to pretend there’s not a whole industry of doctors taking cash in exchange for a Dirty Doc’s note that says they need marijuana.

This is not that big of a surprise, but it is VERY still.

Silly Oklahoma…

Eric Adams Wants People to Remove Their Masks

-via NPR

New York City’s Mayor Adams has a request that seems odd on the surface. Unless you’re familiar with his tenure thus far. And then it’s just like… yeah, no, it’s still odd but not that much of a surprise that you think this’ll fix it.

Mayor Adams would like all deli clerks and bodega workers to have their customers remove their masks before entering, so they can tell if they’re going to do crimes in the store.

Like… first of all… I’m sorry. Was no one doing crimes before Covid and face masks became so prominent? And is the way to solve crime to put the lives of the workers there at risk, by making them more suspectable to covid?

And finally… so I guess we just KNOW if someone’s a criminal based on their face? Is that really what we’re doing here?

Listen… solve crime. But solve the root of the crime. This is not a solve. This is the action of someone who wants to LOOK like they’re doing something.

Texas Women Sue the State

-via NPR

Don’t mess with (some) Texas women.

Five women in the state, who were denied abortions under Texas law, are sue the state in hopes of getting some clarity on the law.

Which is part of the problem with all of these laws. They are specifically written to be confusing. And they specifically target, among other people, medical care professionals. And it’s the hope of people who pretend that they are pro-life when they are actually just anti-uterus, that medical professionals will be too nervous and confused by the law and instead will just say they can’t do an abortion.

In addition to those five women, two doctors are also suing the state for that exact reason.

And listen… it shouldn’t come to this. This shouldn’t even be a story that needs to be talked about because bodily autonomy shouldn’t be something we are still fighting for. But here we are. And thank goodness there are women with the strength to get up and talk about this.

Because this fight isn’t for them. It’s for all of us.

www.tiktok.com/@kimmoffatishere

-via The Guardian

In, Joe Biden doesn’t want be to be TikTok famous news… the White House is backing legislation introduced by about a dozen Senators to ban TikTok if they pose national security threats.

Here’s the thing. Like… yeah. We should obviously worry about national security. Especially because China doesn’t seem to be super into us right now. So let’s solve that problem. But this is just like Eric Adams saying, “hey take off your face mask before you come in here.”

Banning the app doesn’t solve the problem. Solving the problem solves the problem. Work with the CEO and see if you can come up with a solution. I know the internet is a series of pipes but get a plumber and fix the leak. You think TikTok will be the only app like this? No! Of course not! So let’s find a real solution.

Also… as a bonus, you can apply that solution to anything! Any company! Any app! YouTube’s out here radicalizing viewers and helping to create homegrown terrorists. So feels like maybe TikTok isn’t the ONLY problem here.

Have a real solution. Not something a dozen Senators wrote because they can’t get their views.

Update on Kidnapping in Mexico

-via CNN

There is a tragic update on the four Americans that were kidnapped in Mexico on Friday. Of the four friends – two have been killed. One of the survivors was shot multiple times in the leg. In addiction, a Mexican woman was killed by a stray bullet.

Investigators believe they were mistaken for Haitian drug smugglers.

The two survivors are being treated in at an American hospital.

Hey. Would you like to guess why they were in Mexico?

If you guessed health care – you’d be right. They traveled from South Carolina so that one of them could undergo a medical procedure.

Fox “News” News

-via CBS News, Washington Post, and AP News

Let’s talk about Fox News (I know, I know. I’m sorry). We’ve got a couple things.

First, more fallout from the Dominion lawsuit where texts reveal that Tucker Carlson couldn’t wait to stop covering Trump. How much? Well here are a couple quotes:

“We are very, very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can’t wait.”

Also, he added… “I hate him passionately.”

PASSIONATELY

Okay. Well… Tuck, be prepared to find someone else you’re going to hate passionately. Because someone at Fox News, who knew the election was stolen, just got all the footage to the insurrection on January 6th. And what we COULD do with that footage is turn the tide in the Court of Opinion and show just how terrible Trump is. Like, this person, with this footage, could help you achieve your dream and make it so you can stop covering Trump so often. And if you hate Trump so passionately, just wait until you find out someone’s helping elevate him.

Because after receiving the 41,000 or so hours worth of footage from January 6th, which wasn’t even really vetted. It was just handed over… this person really went on Fox, the network that knew the election wasn’t stolen and still encouraged people to be really mad like a true patriot would be… and just this week, this Monday, he really went on TV and called it “mostly peaceful chaos.”

And yeah, some could argue that no one hates Tucker Carlson like he hates himself.

But also… I don’t know… those people haven’t met me, I guess.

I mean, truly… imagine doing this. How much self-loathing do you have to have, to HATE Trump and STILL do everything under the sun to help in stay in power. My guy… get therapy. Please!

Anyway, of course Mitch McConnell and other Senate Republicans pushed back against what Carlson said. And rightfully so… this is a network that knew they were lying about the election, knew what they were doing was dangerous, watched the consequences of their actions as a deadly insurrection took place, and has yet to learn from what they did and are, instead, continuing to make this country an angrier and more dangerous place to be.

Here's the problem. I can get as mad as I want and it doesn’t really have any consequences beyond like… air space on this podcast.

Mitch McConnell is a Senator. All these Senators that are big mad? They can do things. For example, Fox has to have a license to be on the air. I wonder if they should still have that license.

And Mitch thinks he’s talking a big game, but he’s saying it was “a mistake” for Fox to characterize the insurrection as anything but a deadly insurrection. It wasn’t a mistake… it was done on purpose. And you’re not doing anything of any real conseuqnce to prevent them from promoting a dangerous lie that will, mark my words, lead to another January 6th.

Mitch McConnell gets zero points for saying stuff like this because he’s not doing anything to stop Fox. Push comes to shove, he’s on his little turtle back at the IDEA of preventing Fox and Trump from spreading these lies. Run your mouth babe, but let me see your texts. Let me see who you voted for. You didn’t even want to impeach Trump in the days after the insurrection.

You are no different than Tuck.

Feckless. All of ya.

For what? To be invited to a mediocre dinner in FLORIDA?

Could never be me.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of those seven women in Texas, suing for some dang clarity.

I’m proud of… I don’t know. Anyone who just… anyone not at Fox news or trying to be at Fox News or I don’t know… just… stand up for something. Stand up for yourself. Stop bending over backwards for this one guy. Like… for Trump? All of this for TRUMP? What does he have on all of you? He cannot POSSIBLY be cool to hang out with.

I have to stop before I go on another rant.

You know what… for a million reasons, but I don’t even need a specific one but this is just a core truth so let me leave it with this.

I’m proud of you.