I did mention that family lives near Providence and they do like it. Although I'm originally from the East Coast, NY & NJ, I have been to all of NE states except RI. Probably because it is so small I missed it.
In Chattanooga, there is this beautiful old art-deco post office. We were inside once a couple years ago taking pictures and we got hassled by the guard. He said it's illegal to take pictures in any federal building and made us leave
As you'd expect for a New England Democrat, he's solidly pro-choice, big on education and health care, and has advocated for LGBTQ rights going way way back.
You should double check with Robyn, but as I understand it, the Rhode Island Democratic Party is VEEEEERRRRRRRRRYYY different from the Dem party in other states. (Much like West Virginia dems are different, though the variance isn't on the same issues.)
Of particular note, again IIRC, RI Dems are heavily Catholic and have a Catholic anti-abortion tendency that's heavy enough to affect abortion regulations in the state even though the state legislature is a Dem supermajority in both houses.
So... I guess I'm trying to say that those positions are expected for most New England Dems, but the pro-choice position is not expected in RI, even for Democrats. So perhaps give him a little extra credit for his pro-choice position than merely "Meh. It was expected."
I wouldn't know, but it's at least possible that since he spent years in the RI state leg as a pro-choice Dem, that might be a place that got him ready to stand up to his peers and be willing to be a minority even within the Dem party. If he was a minority Dem in RI, he might not worry so much about being a minority Dem in the US Senate.
Well, okay, but remember that we then lose a liberal Dem from the Senate who's doing a good job there.
Don't get me wrong, if I thought there was a prayer of legit change in the DOD under Biden, I think he would be a great person to lead it (from what little I know about him here - please understand I don't keep track of liberal candidates for SecDef), but Biden is going to run the DOD like Obama did - drone strikes, global interventionism, illegal cross-border "counter-terrorism" raids, and using military personnel to carry out anti-trafficking (mostly drug, but on rare occasions sex) actions that really should be done by law enforcement. He'll continue building new aircraft carriers and purchasing the F-35 at thrice the price of an upgraded F-18 when the F-35 doesn't work yet and the F-18 does. Biden will continue selling arms to countries who engage in offensive war (Saudi Arabia, I'm looking at you) and even use those arms against civilian populations (oh so many countries, including Saudi again, but the country in this category which will cause the most notice and controversy is, of course, Israel).
There is nothing in this agenda that requires a liberal or progressive SecDef. In fact, most of these require an anti-progressive SecDef.
Again, I don't know Reed at all, but if he is a genuine progressive, the reason he might so frequently decline the position is because he doesn't want to have to do all those things that betray progressive values.
Imagine being a truly qualified, truly capable, truly progressive SecDef. Imagine what it would be like to be the kind of Sec that really could oversee a dramatic transformation of the Department, and then have to keep the status quo in place because over and over that's what POTUS tells you to do.
I mean, fuck, I'm clearly not qualified to be SecDef, but if I was, I would be scrapping the F-35 on the first day, pulling back troops from tons of areas, halting new aircraft carrier production, and that's even without mentioning personnel and anti-discrimination issues and using my moral authority to shame the congress and the SecVA into better treatment of veterans. (Just because I'm anti-war doesn't mean I think we can treat the veterans like shit the way we do now.)
Putting me, or any progressive, in the SecDef chair when you're not going to allow that person to make substantive change is sentencing that person to an incredibly painful term of service.
So, sure, I would def. recommend that Biden transform the DOD and put Reed in charge of that effort. But if Biden isn't going for a complete transformation, I sure as hell wouldn't want to subject Reed to that purgatory.
Seek out any available BALLOT boxes first. It may well save you a trip.
not round here. wenatchee is the closest. it is only a half hour drive.
I'm not so sure that that sarcasm indicator was really necessary.
Suffice to say that this bitch pushing 60 doesn't count on being a life that is valued.
Does anyone really think that Pennsylvania, Michigan, upstate New York, and Wisconsin would go along with this? Still too many Northern goobers.
Or RT or Pravda.
I did mention that family lives near Providence and they do like it. Although I'm originally from the East Coast, NY & NJ, I have been to all of NE states except RI. Probably because it is so small I missed it.
In Chattanooga, there is this beautiful old art-deco post office. We were inside once a couple years ago taking pictures and we got hassled by the guard. He said it's illegal to take pictures in any federal building and made us leave
As you'd expect for a New England Democrat, he's solidly pro-choice, big on education and health care, and has advocated for LGBTQ rights going way way back.
You should double check with Robyn, but as I understand it, the Rhode Island Democratic Party is VEEEEERRRRRRRRRYYY different from the Dem party in other states. (Much like West Virginia dems are different, though the variance isn't on the same issues.)
Of particular note, again IIRC, RI Dems are heavily Catholic and have a Catholic anti-abortion tendency that's heavy enough to affect abortion regulations in the state even though the state legislature is a Dem supermajority in both houses.
So... I guess I'm trying to say that those positions are expected for most New England Dems, but the pro-choice position is not expected in RI, even for Democrats. So perhaps give him a little extra credit for his pro-choice position than merely "Meh. It was expected."
I wouldn't know, but it's at least possible that since he spent years in the RI state leg as a pro-choice Dem, that might be a place that got him ready to stand up to his peers and be willing to be a minority even within the Dem party. If he was a minority Dem in RI, he might not worry so much about being a minority Dem in the US Senate.
Well, okay, but remember that we then lose a liberal Dem from the Senate who's doing a good job there.
Don't get me wrong, if I thought there was a prayer of legit change in the DOD under Biden, I think he would be a great person to lead it (from what little I know about him here - please understand I don't keep track of liberal candidates for SecDef), but Biden is going to run the DOD like Obama did - drone strikes, global interventionism, illegal cross-border "counter-terrorism" raids, and using military personnel to carry out anti-trafficking (mostly drug, but on rare occasions sex) actions that really should be done by law enforcement. He'll continue building new aircraft carriers and purchasing the F-35 at thrice the price of an upgraded F-18 when the F-35 doesn't work yet and the F-18 does. Biden will continue selling arms to countries who engage in offensive war (Saudi Arabia, I'm looking at you) and even use those arms against civilian populations (oh so many countries, including Saudi again, but the country in this category which will cause the most notice and controversy is, of course, Israel).
There is nothing in this agenda that requires a liberal or progressive SecDef. In fact, most of these require an anti-progressive SecDef.
Again, I don't know Reed at all, but if he is a genuine progressive, the reason he might so frequently decline the position is because he doesn't want to have to do all those things that betray progressive values.
Imagine being a truly qualified, truly capable, truly progressive SecDef. Imagine what it would be like to be the kind of Sec that really could oversee a dramatic transformation of the Department, and then have to keep the status quo in place because over and over that's what POTUS tells you to do.
I mean, fuck, I'm clearly not qualified to be SecDef, but if I was, I would be scrapping the F-35 on the first day, pulling back troops from tons of areas, halting new aircraft carrier production, and that's even without mentioning personnel and anti-discrimination issues and using my moral authority to shame the congress and the SecVA into better treatment of veterans. (Just because I'm anti-war doesn't mean I think we can treat the veterans like shit the way we do now.)
Putting me, or any progressive, in the SecDef chair when you're not going to allow that person to make substantive change is sentencing that person to an incredibly painful term of service.
So, sure, I would def. recommend that Biden transform the DOD and put Reed in charge of that effort. But if Biden isn't going for a complete transformation, I sure as hell wouldn't want to subject Reed to that purgatory.
I got the shirt back in the day when it was bootleg.
Quote Maxwell Smart: "Would you believe it came this close to working?"
https://m.youtube.com/watch...
All my cats have people or people like names, too...Awful Horrible Animal, Keith Evil, etc. I'm just a weird individual.
Gov. Reynolds has not yet asked the federal government for emergency aid. She says she'll ask tomorrow, Monday.
Please please please add SE Alaska-the Panhandle. The red part of the state doesn’t want it anyway.
You can't have DC unless you let us come with!