The Progressive Wing

Tip jar for the usual bar and budtenders…

Blue Tip Jar Screenshot 2020-11-03 180106.jpg

Thank you Benny! Always great to see you behind the bar ❤️ 🍷

wi63

Thx for the beverage Benny, i feel so very fortunate to check out of the Covid hotel and wish my best to anyone thats battling this.

It’s great to hear that you’re getting better wi62!

🎼👍

Labor leaders push for Rep. Andy Levin as Biden’s Labor Secretary

In a Friday letter to President-elect Joe Biden’s transition team, the UAW — the major union of automobile and mechanical workers — strongly recommended the incoming administration pick Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) to head the Department of Labor. UAW President Rory Gamble wrote that Levin has a background in the labor movement and “impeccable credentials,” including working under former President Bill Clinton’s Labor Department. Levin is “the only sitting representative or senator who has run a state workforce system,” Gamble noted. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has also reportedly expressed interest in the position. Communications Workers of America President Chris Shelton also endorsed Levin earlier this week, and progressive groups Sunrise Movement and Justice Democrats picked Levin among their top three, alongside Sanders and Service Employees International Union President Mary Kay Henry.

Sanders Expresses Interest in Serving as Biden’s Labor Secretary

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) said Wednesday that if he were asked to join President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet as Labor secretary, he would accept the role.

Biden is expected to choose a more progressive candidate to lead the Labor Department. Sanders is a contender, according to the news site, along with progressive Representative Andy Levin (D., Mich.), California Labor Secretary Julie Su, DNC Chairman and former Obama Labor Secretary Tom Perez and AFL-CIO Chief Economist Bill Spriggs.

I sure do hope that Sanders gets some respect from Biden’s admin, for Bernie’s sake, for my sake, and for the sake of what’s left of the Dem party. I realize that many Dems are feeling triumphant right now, but they need to glance over their shoulders.

the biden cabinet rumor mill is looking very, very "i'll never vote democrat again" right now
— Jennifer C. Martin (@notreallyjcm) November 13, 2020

Byedone picks Perez, that will prove beyond all doubt that his brain is fried!

polarbear4

Too bad they weren’t supporting Bernie.

I honestly don’t know why union leaders wouldn’t get behind Bernie, he seems the obvious choice to me, but I’m not involved in the sausage-making, so what do I know?

Sanders has reportedly begun a push to become Labor secretary, seeking endorsement from top labor leaders. A longtime senior labor leader told the network that Sanders had called union chiefs to request their support and has been met with mixed reactions.
Sanders reached out to AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, who has thrown support behind Boston Mayor Marty Walsh for the role, according to CNN.

I hate to think that union leadership is as corrupt as so many of our politicians, but I also can’t close my eyes to that possibility.

yes they are. in bed with the corpses.

weather alert: @BernieSanders tonight at 8pm et will join @allinwithchris.
— mike casca (@cascamike) November 14, 2020

Bernie is on now..came on about 2-3 min ago.

How’d it go?

I’m watching an interesting C-SPAN program with a Christopher McKnight Nichols (Oregon State U) presentation, illustrating not only what occurred during the 1918 flu crisis, but so many of the parallels with our current situation.

It’s about the same as the other interviews, except at the end, Bernie cautions against resting too long. He said that we have a small reprieve, then we will have to mobilize again to get the help people need by pushing for a stronger stimulus bill and a more progressive agenda.

Narcissist in Chief. While the pandemic rages across the country, Trump spends his day plotting how he can overturn the election results. Fortunately, we will soon have a president who believes in science and who is prepared to serve the American people, not himself.
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) November 14, 2020

From his mouth to all of the ears that need to hear that!!

Thank you Benny.

deleted. lol

“It took a legion of civil rights lawyers, activists, & volunteers to combat egregious voter suppression tactics in order to make Black voters’ already hurdle-laden path to the ballot box slightly less cumbersome.” @Sifill_LDF @Slate https://t.co/ahYUC2BmZp
— Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II (@RevDrBarber) November 14, 2020

Part of a convo I had with a young, aggrieved, Trump supporter yesterday involved the voting process, and he asserted that, “Everyone should have to vote in person!”.

Needless to say, I had some responses to that, and I think I did quite well, overall, because he ended up replying, “I agree that voting should be easier…but…but…legally!” (which was an easy concession for me to make, obviously each vote should be legal)

A lot of white people haven’t had to experience massive lines, HOURS in line, they’d be sooooo pissed off!

Probably a celebration over Biden’s win.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom is facing backlash after attending a dinner party while discouraging people from gathering for the holidays https://t.co/SJwphOVKTu
— POLITICO (@politico) November 14, 2020

or maybe this?

"The filibuster is no longer a matter of tradition, it has become a matter of life and death. And I'm… in this for saving and helping improve people's lives." –@AlexPadilla4CA, one of the favorites to get the Cali Senate seat of @KamalaHarris, to me:pic.twitter.com/CfaTDSzgot
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) November 14, 2020

Whoever thought Mussorgsky could be turned into rock and roll?

Epic concert at the The Forum in Montreal, stories…..

Huge Keith Emerson fan (I stupidly bought piano sheet music onec, thinking I could even begin to play it, so many flats!), he was on, and he basically seemed to be having sex with his keyboards..

Carl Palmer was out of control, drum solo was incredible, and Greg Lake was sweet, and provided a chance for my heartbeat to get back to some normalcy 😉

I saw them a year later in my hometown of Lubbock, TX. Good concert. Always loved this tune too:

You would have loved that part of the convert I saw. The stage was Greg Lake’s, the lights came down and it was really nice.

Did you know a family named Hogsteter or Hogstead? Billy or Kalichi Sticks was my age. One of hubby’s friends in Houston, where Jake was born. x-hubby.

Not familiar with those families.

Another classic in my old wrinkle vinyl collection. 🎼😊

👍🎼

polarbear4

here's zelina's tweet and the announcement by WWE that she was fired 10 minutes laterhttps://t.co/Gc41HIgCdU
— ☀️👀 (@zei_squirrel) November 14, 2020

'Pathetic': Sanders, Khanna Slam Trump and GOP for Spreading Election Lies as Pandemic Surges – https://t.co/7H3OsXGC1A via @commondreams
— Warren Gunnels (@GunnelsWarren) November 14, 2020

Guilty pleasure! 🤚🏼

jcitybone

November 10 was the 45th anniversary of the shipwreck.

Just a classic, iconic tune! Beautifully written, too!🎼🎼🎼🎼👍

love him. oh my gosh.

Had a 45 with “If You Could Read My Mind” on it.🎼👍

jcitybone

My favorite. I really loved this disco version by Viola Wills too

I love disco, jcb. Believe me, you should see my tunes collection. But, this is a sad blues song, not frivolous.

jcitybone

Well I have to disagree that disco is frivolous 🙂 And songs can be interpreted in different ways ✌️

'Pathetic': Sanders, Khanna Slam Trump and GOP for Spreading Election Lies as Pandemic Surges – https://t.co/7H3OsXGC1A
en. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna are among the progressives condemning Senate Republicans for offering aid and comfort to President Donald Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud while coronavirus infection and hospitalization rates surge and wreak havoc in communities nationwide.
“Instead of fighting to defeat the Covid-19 pandemic that has killed over 242,000 Americans, the Trump administration is spending its final days in office fighting a bogus voter ‘fraud’ problem that does not exist,” said Sanders on Thursday evening on social media. “Pathetic. The Biden-Harris Administration cannot come soon enough.”
The senator repeated his demand for a package which includes far-reaching aid for Americans who are “facing economic devastation.”
“Cases are at an all time high. Millions of families are agonizing over what to do for the holidays, how they’re going to keep paying rent, or whether their business will survive the winter,” tweeted Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.). “We need a Covid relief deal now.”
More than 163,000 new cases of Covid-19 were reported in the U.S. on Thursday, yet when asked about the Republican Party’s plans to pass legislation offering relief to people and small businesses, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told reporters that he’s interested only in a package of around $500 billion to target “residual problems” from the pandemic.
Despite McConnell’s suggestion that the pandemic and the corresponding economic crisis are over, CNBC reported last month that as many as 35 million Americans could soon face eviction or have trouble paying their rent or mortgage payments. Hospitals in states including North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Texas are reporting that they are at or nearing capacity, and with one of the country’s most severe outbreaks, North Dakota officials reported Wednesday that one in every 83 residents tested positive in the last week.
Amid the crisis, Trump, his administration officials, and congressional Republicans have embarked on an effort to call the election results into question, despite the fact that election and cybersecurity officials have said numerous times in the past week that Biden legitimately won both the popular vote and more than the 270 electoral votes needed to take over the federal government—with a coalition of federal, state, and local officials on Thursday saying the 2020 election was “the most secure in American history.”
Multiple legal experts have said the lawsuits that Trump has filed in states including Pennsylvania and Arizona—where Biden was officially projected to be the winner on Friday—are meritless, but officials including McConnell, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo have said in recent days that the election has not yet been decided.
Other progressives echoed Sanders’ and Khanna’s disgust over the Republican Party’s abandonment of the American people in the interest of enabling the president, whose false claims about “illegal votes” cast in the election led several historians to warn this week that Trump could soon incite violence by his supporters.

Stop Blaming the Left

This was one day ago from Ross Barkan:

The argument for Joe Biden as a presidential candidate was always two-fold: he would beat Donald Trump and deliver for Democrats down the ballot.
As the votes trickle in more than a week later, it’s increasingly clear only one of these two assumptions was true. Trump triggered an unprecedented turnout of Republicans that appeared to swamp Democrats everywhere but the presidency. Biden’s coattails didn’t matter much in crucial state legislative races—where Republicans dominated again—let alone the U.S. Senate contests that showed Democrats badly underperforming. What to make of all this? Like 2016, this year should be studied thoroughly. There are dangerous trends for Democrats ahead, like a loss of Black and Latino support and the overall flight of less-educated, rural voters to the GOP. Trump, in defeat, won more than 70 million votes. Narratives were scrambled and new ones will need to be written.
In New York, the outcome is still muddy. Our outdated election law means absentee ballots are just being tallied. We can only begin to assess what happened down the ballot, where the real action took place. Though New York is thoroughly blue—Biden won it convincingly—Trump inspired a heavy GOP turnout in the suburbs and upstate, likely powering congressional and state legislative victories there.
But we won’t know the exact performance until votes are tallied. This hasn’t stopped Jay Jacobs, the chairman of the New York State Democratic Party and mouthpiece for Governor Andrew Cuomo, from preemptively blaming progressives for whatever losses Democrats may incur.

wi63

Might be the shortest coattails in presidential history.

I heard them call Biden a ‘radical leftist’ on Fox, we need to stop caring what right-wing media calls us, they’ll only stop calling us radicals if we agree with them.

Centrist Democrats are deluding themselves if they believe Republicans will stop calling them socialist if only progressives kept quiet. Republicans called Obama a socialist.
Either you get your own message out there or get crushed. https://t.co/sVmc0jmWl3
— Ross Barkan (@RossBarkan) November 13, 2020

they don’t have the Russians this time. progressives are actually worse. lol

Ali Velshi rocks! Via telephone, Cori Bush is on The Rachel Maddow Show, where Velshi is substituting for Ms Maddow.

Velshi is a good replacement for Maddow. I love Cori Bush.