(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Good News Roundup for Friday, December 9, 2022: What We Do Matters [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2022-12-09 Welcome 🌻 to Friday’s Roundup of Good News! The news has been pretty good lately. Inflation is easing. Justice is on the move, with indictments and guilty verdicts in a number of important cases. We did a heck of a lot better than expected in the midterms. Now, many have remarked on how close some races have been. For example, why didn’t Warnock win by 30 points? Remember, this is Georgia! Kemp beat Abrams, 53.43 to 45.86% (NPR, and in case you’re checking my math, there were some 3rd party candidates). Warnock had to flip this and to get enough voters to go in the other direction, which he did, winning 51.35 to 48.65 (NPR again, and now there are no 3rd party candidates, so the sum is 100). Warnock changed the direction — this despite all the money poured into Walker’s campaign, all the propping up by R Senators, all the support by FOX pundits. Kemp won by almost 300,000 votes; Warnock won by about 100,000. This 400,000-vote swing is amazing. But it means, too, that every single thing you did mattered. Every postcard you wrote. Every dollar you gave. Everyone you helped vote. Your acts stopped the red wave. We’ve still got so much to do, and turbulent times are ahead. But at the moment, I feel as if I can relax my white-knuckled grip of the armrests. ✈️ I might even unbuckle my seatbelt and move about the cabin! I know I’m not the one finally feeling a bit of relief. I have friends who have expressed the same. But this is because of us, dear gnus, and all our allies, working to making our country and our world a better place. Come on in, gnusies, and see the good news I’ve gathered — and please add your own! Regular Scheduled Programming No one here is naïve; we are aware of the many who are fighting to destroy our country. Some of us expected it: the cheating, the lying, the chaos, and yes, even the attempts to cling to power despite the clear will of the people. But we are here to read the efforts and the positive results of those (including us and our fellow gnus) who are working so hard to save our country from those very bad people. We are furious with them for what they are doing. We are letting them know. Remember: 💙 There are more of us than there are of them. 💛 They are terrified when we organize. THERE IS LOTS OF EVIDENCE THAT THEY ARE TERRIFIED! 💔 They want us to be demoralized. The best way to keep up your spirits is to fight. So, take the time to recharge your batteries, but find ways to contribute to the well-being of our country and our world. 🗽 Biden as President ! 🗽 Biden, Harris and their administration have been hard at work. Here are the last week’s posts at the White House briefing room. 👎 Out with the Bad, In with the Good 👍 🏀 Thank you, President Biden: x Moments ago I spoke to Brittney Griner. She is safe. She is on a plane. She is on her way home. pic.twitter.com/FmHgfzrcDT — President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022 I wonder if this was made easier by Biden’s doing so well in the midterms. Of course, Griner was traded for a nasty arms dealer, Viktor Bout. However, Bout was in prison for 10 years — presumably some of his connections are no longer active and he can do less damage. Also, all of us should make a point of not going to hostile countries if we can avoid them.The 👎 The Special Master is gone! x BREAKING: Trump failed to try to stop 11th Circuit ruling, and it now takes effect -- so Special Master is officially gone and DOJ now gets back full access to the documents it recovered from Mar-a-Lago. Trump did not even bother trying to get the Supreme Court to intervene. — Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) December 8, 2022 🌻 I know you’ve all seen this, but it still feels great: x Volodomyr Zelenskyy has been named TIME's Person of the Year. pic.twitter.com/Qkcz8cSs0U — Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) December 7, 2022 Zelenskyy is currently saving his country, but before that he saved ours, by not caving to the tRumpian pressures to smear Biden. OK, this hasn’t happened yet, and maybe it’s speculation, but the idea that putin has a plan to flee Russia is really interesting Allison Quinn, The Daily Beast Abbas Gallyamov, a former speechwriter for Putin, made the astounding claim on Telegram early Wednesday, citing an unnamed source that he said had “insider” information on the whole affair. The evacuation plan, according to Gallyamov, got underway back in the spring, when it was unofficially dubbed “Noah’s Ark.” “As the name implies, it’s about a search for new land to go to in case it becomes completely uncomfortable in the homeland. The leader’s entourage has not ruled out that he will lose the war, be stripped of power, and have to urgently evacuate somewhere,” Gallyamov wrote. They are considering Venezuela and Argentina, which seems unfair to these countries. Biden and the Ds are so much more competent than tRump and the Rs! x # of judges confirmed at this point in presidency- TRUMP: 84 BIDEN: 94 (including 4 today!) Amazing that Biden has already outpaced Trump with just a 50-50 Senate. With a real majority after Warnock's win, he'll outpace him by even more #GArunoff — Brent Peabody 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@brent_peabody) December 8, 2022 💣 Republicans: Party of Crimes and Chaos 💣 Chaos as the Rs move on from tRump — a little bit, at least Matt Lewis The Daily Beast To be sure, some Republicans like South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem and New York Rep. Lee Zeldin are still attempting to diminish Trump’s midterm culpability by blaming leaders like the RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel, while others are blaming GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell. Still, the trend is clear: While plenty of his party’s own leaders continue to refuse to offer more than timid criticism of him, Trump’s sheen of inevitability is fading. In fact, the clearest indicator isn’t that Trump’s former minions are starting to come after him—it’s that they are starting to go after each other. ✂️ After seizing power, a strongman often (ruthlessly) imposes order and peace at home. For most of the last few years, Trump has been a unifying force in the GOP and, more broadly, on the right (not counting the small percentage of Republicans who became Never Trumpers and were purged). But what happens when a strongman starts to appear vulnerable? Chaos ensues. People rise up and/or the power vacuum is filled by local warlords. 🌴 This is SO satisfying! Seems to be a result of the Joel Greenberg files: x Of course. The author of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Republican Representative Joseph Harding, has been criminally indicted by the Justice Department for wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements. He faces 35 years in prison. pic.twitter.com/qTRSCqdutp — Mike Sington (@MikeSington) December 8, 2022 The Rs know they have problems. They don’t seem to know how to correct them: x After historic Gen Z turnout, Republicans are trying to figure out how to appeal to them by talking with youth vote experts such as *checks notes* Newt Gingrich?! — Santiago Mayer (@santiagomayer_) December 7, 2022 Rs are in disarray x “I’m not bluffing,” Rep. Andy Biggs just told me about his run for speaker, saying he’s taking it to the floor — Manu Raju (@mkraju) December 8, 2022 💙 Democrats Deliver 💙 Gas prices are lower! x BREAKING: Gas prices today are lower than they were a year ago. This is a big deal as President Biden lowers costs for everyday working Americans. — Biden’s Wins (@BidensWins) December 8, 2022 Although it’s not really a surprise: x Barely 36 hours after the end of the midterms and gas prices drop below where they were at the same point last year. Funny how that works. pic.twitter.com/EYMd5JWNDY — Andrew Wortman (@AmoneyResists) December 8, 2022 I wasn’t sure where to put this, but it features President Biden and the original Antifa, so I’m putting it with the Democrats: x It isn’t every day that you meet your heroes. pic.twitter.com/RXl5kyWbAW — President Biden (@POTUS) December 8, 2022 💜 Unity? 💜 While we’re celebrating Warnock’s victory, we should also acknowledge the fine concession speech made by Herschel Walker. Seriously, it was the best speech of his that I saw — maybe he’s relieved that he lost? — and honestly, if he had spoken this well during the campaign, he might have won. Even a few seconds of decency from Lindsey Graham: x Sen Lindsay Graham (R-SC) speaking to reporters about Democrats performance in midterm elections & Georgia runoff: "You have to have to stop for a moment and congratulate the other side. What they did was pretty phenomenal." — Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 7, 2022 G7 Countries agree on price cap for Russian oil (ok, Russia does NOT agree) Cristen Hemingway Jaynes, EcoWatch The price of Russian seaborne oil has been capped at $60 a barrel after the Group of Seven countries — which includes non-enumerated member the European Union — and Australia reached a consensus on the price Monday. The goal of the price cap is to reduce the revenue stream funding Russia’s war on Ukraine, while still allowing access to some Russian oil in order to keep the global energy market stable. The measure comes just before a ban on most Russian imports is also imposed. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen confirmed the oil price cap on Twitter. 🐯 Big cat public safety act passed by Senate - by unanimous consent! The Humane Society, Rosenzweig WASHINGTON—The U.S. Senate just passed the Big Cat Public Safety Act (H.R. 263, Senate companion bill S. 1210) by unanimous consent. This follows the bill’s passage by the U.S. House of Representatives on July 29. The legislation prohibits keeping tigers, lions and other big cat species as pets, and bans public contact with these species, including paid interactive experiences like cub petting. The legislation was sponsored and championed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Rep. Michael Quigley, D-Ill., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. The bill now goes to the White House to be signed into law by President Biden, who has expressed support for it. Kitty Block, president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States and CEO of Humane Society Legislative Fund, said: “An extraordinarily cruel era for big cats in the U.S. finally comes to an end with the passage of the Big Cat Public Safety Act. We’ve been fighting for this moment for years because so many so-called ‘Tiger Kings’ have been breeding tigers and other big cats to use them for profit. And once the cubs grow too large for cub-petting or selfies, these poor animals get dumped at roadside zoos or passed into the pet trade, which is not only a terrible wrong for the animals, but also a threat to public safety. Now that the Big Cat Public Safety Act will become law, it’s the beginning of the end of the big cat crisis in the U.S.” Notice the sponsors are both D and R. This feels great, although it does point out how we should do better, too — but the whole world is pushing back on fascism. x How novel for coup plotters to be stopped in advance instead of announcing their coup plot on the internet for several months, attacking the Capitol, and then remaining free to plot "Coup 2: Return of the Coup" https://t.co/DhNtBtDJ83 — Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) December 7, 2022 And a remark on Peru: x One important thing to note in Peru. When the leftist president tried to overturn the constitutional order, fellow leftists, and members of his own party abandoned him and put democracy over their partisan interests. That hasn't happened here. — Chris Hayes (@chrislhayes) December 9, 2022 📥 Actions You Can Take 📤 Tax-exempt organization complaint referrals. 13909. You can fill this out for the NRA and lots of other organizations. How about if some of us white folk go into some of the MAGA churches and video record what they’re saying? Voting rights. This may be the biggest issue threatening our democracy right now. Besides contacting your representatives at the state and federal level to do the right thing (depending on who they are), you can support and contact these organizations: ACLU — American Civil Liberties Union Democracy Docket — founded by Marc Elias, so important in fighting the challenges after the last election. Fair Fight — founded by Stacey Abrams 🌱Grass roots. Biden and Harris can do the top-down stuff, but we have to support from the bottom. I don’t know how to deprogram 75 million people, but some things have been written about, such as deep canvassing, and lots of people are talking about this. If you know someone (who did not storm the Capitol), then see if you can be pleasant. Instead of trying to reason with them (logic is obviously not their strong point) distract them with something else. We need to remove the sources of lies and to take down the temperature. If we get more of the Rs to wear masks and to get vaccinated and to vote for Ds, the country will be a better place. We need to coax some of them out of the rabbit holes and diffuse the anger and the crazy. 🏃 Run for something. If you want to run for something, but have no idea what to do, these people will help you. They also like money and volunteers to help those people who are running, so even if you’re not in a position to stand for office, you can help. Note: they are especially planning to target the 57 Rs in local governments who participated in the insurrection. 👎 Defund the seditionists. Defund the seditionists. This is a list with companies that sometimes have donated to the seditionists. The list is long. You will recognize many of the corporations, and you probably have a relationship with some — either you are a customer, a shareholder, or maybe even an employee. Contact them and compliment or complain, but let them know you are watching. Forward it to others. 🐍 Schadenfreude 😈 Rs are beginning to wonder if maybe they should stop campaigning against early voting Wonkette On Election Day, Walker got 927,588 votes to Senator Raphael Warnock's 703,024 — almost a quarter million vote advantage. But Warnock walked into Election Day with a 321,187 vote margin already banked thanks to his overwhelming performance with mail-in and early voters, who made up 64 percent of the electorate. And 321 > 225, all day, every day. None of this was unpredictable. The Republican Party spent years telling their voters that there was something insidious about voting by mail or drop box. Attorney General Bill Barr told outright lies about prosecutions for "ballot harvesting" and fanned the flames of paranoia by claiming that absentee voting is plagued by "substantial fraud and coercion." Less than two weeks before the Georgia runoff, Trump attempted to boost Arizona gubernatorial race loser Kari Lake's ridiculous election fraud claims by screeching into the ether, "REMEMBER, YOU CAN NEVER HAVE FAIR & FREE ELECTIONS WITH MAIL-IN BALLOTS - NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. WON’T AND CAN’T HAPPEN!!!" ✂️ Politico reports this morning that "top GOP officials and conservative luminaries are acknowledging voters were led astray with calls to reject early and absentee voting." Apparently there is "a growing sense of alarm among the GOP ranks that the conspiracy theories Trump pushed about early voting and mail ballots not only hurt them dearly in the just completed midterms, but could take multiple cycles to remedy." Note that I have a Republican half-uncle who lives and votes in Pennsylvania, my mother’s half-brother, who I tracked down after many decades (and finally learned how his father, my grandfather, died, so I could complete my medical history). I follow him on FB. On one of his posts, he mocked the idea of mailing in your vote early, and a whole bunch of people agreed with him. I made no comment, as I assumed they were all Rs as well. It can be hard to educate Rs. For example: x Paul Whelan was arrested & jailed in Russia in December, 2018. The single best excuse I got today from a Trump supporter for why Trump didn’t bring Whelan home: “Trump wasn’t President in 2018.” I kid you not. You just can’t top that. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) December 8, 2022 DOJ asks judge to hold team tRump in contempt for documents case Spencer S. Hsu, Josh Dawsey, Jacqueline Alemany, Devlin Barrett, Rosalind S. Helderman, Washington Post Prosecutors have urged a federal judge to hold Donald Trump’s office in contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a May subpoena to return all classified documents in his possession, according to people familiar with the matter — a sign of how contentious the private talks have become over whether the former president still holds any secret papers. In recent days, Justice Department lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell to hold Trump’s office in contempt, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe sealed court proceedings. The hearing is scheduled for Friday, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. From a few days ago: x Today is the day the Ukrainian Air Force managed to strike two strategic airfields deep in the Russian rear and then repelled a major missile attack on the nation. Not a bad Monday, huh? — Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) December 5, 2022 📣 Let’s Honor Truth ☀️️ We have to honor Neal Katyal and his team, who argued so brilliantly before SCOTUS against Moore v. Harper. In case you’re not sure, this is a case that would upend democracy if SCOTUS so chose. By many reports, he did a fine job. (Amy Howe, SCOTUSblog) The Supreme Court on Wednesday signaled that it may not be ready to adopt a sweeping interpretation of the Constitution, known as the “independent state legislature” theory, that would give state legislatures broad power to regulate federal elections without interference from state courts. Although some justices appeared receptive to that theory during nearly three hours of argument, it was not clear that there was a majority to endorse it, even as other justices focused on a narrower version of the theory that would preserve at least some role for state courts in enforcing state laws or the state constitution. ✂️ Arguing on behalf of Democratic voters and non-profits that challenged the legislature’s congressional map, lawyer Neal Katyal cautioned that adopting Thompson’s theory would lead to the invalidation of “hundreds” of state constitutional provisions. ✂️ Katyal warned that a ruling for the legislators would have a “blast radius” that would “sow election chaos” and lead to a flood of litigation. Faced with a scenario in which a state court had invalidated election regulations for state elections but not for federal elections, he added, states might have to hold two separate elections using two sets of rules. x Such a privilege to argue #MoorevHarper in the Supreme Court on behalf of Becky Harper, @CommonCause & other voter protection groups. Anything you liked in my argument was really the product of incredible work by so many, especially @judgeluttig, Abha Khanna, Elisabeth Theodore + pic.twitter.com/3R9QlnBq6t — Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) December 8, 2022 And I know this is unworthy, but I keep thinking about the Mary Tyler Moore show, as it starred Mary Tyler Moore and Valerie Harper. This week I also want to honor Allison Gill who became a whistleblower and was fired by the tRump administration, and Andrew McCabe, formerly of the FBI. Here’s Gill’s description at the Whistleblower’s network In addition to being a veteran, Ph.D., and a former federal government executive, Dr. Allison Gill is a comedian, author, and staunch advocate for the resistance. Dr. Gill was a high-level employee at the Department of Veteran Affairs but was forced out of her job due to her popular podcast reporting on special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of the 2016 election and the Trump campaign’s dealings with Russia. Dr. Gill’s mission as the executive producer and host of Mueller, She Wrote and The Daily Beans is to employ her expertise in the absurd amount of Trump-Russia news and wrap it up into tasty bites for human consumption. She is very dedicated to the separation of facts and conjecture, and works hard to make sure her audience knows which is which. She lost her position but has landed on her feet, and now she’s got a new weekly podcast: x IT'S HAPPENING! NEW PODCAST! I'm teaming up with ANDREW MCCABE to bring you a weekly rundown of Special Counsel Jack Smith's investigations! The trailer is up, and the 1st episode drops Sunday. Please follow and subscribe wherever you get your pods. LFG! https://t.co/G9ewHz6T3W — Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) December 2, 2022 Andrew McCabe, who was at the FBI, was fired the day before his pension would be vested. However, that pension has been reinstated. Carrie Johnson, NPR: note this was in October of 2021 The Justice Department has agreed to restore full law enforcement benefits and provide some attorney fees for former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who was fired by the Trump administration only hours before his retirement three years ago. Some general perspective on fighting for the truth: I just listened to Maddow’s Ultra Vires podcast, which was about Nazi agents and sympathizers in the US before and during World War II. It includes a lot of history I did not know, including some trials against seditionists. However, in these cases, the prosecution failed to get guilty verdicts. In other words, the Garland DOJ is actually performing better than previous DOJs. 🌹 Let’s Celebrate Love ❤️ 👭 👨‍❤️‍👨Respect for Marriage Act passes the House x Just In: The House has passed the Respect for Marriage Act by a vote of 258-169. All 169 "nay" voters were Republican. This Act will codify and provide federal protection for marriages of same-sex and interracial couples. It now heads to President Biden's desk for his signature. — Duty To Warn 🔉 (@duty2warn) December 8, 2022 You can marry who you love! Also, again, President Biden has been pivotal in this fight. Back when he was VP, he made a “gaffe” — speaking out in favor of gay marriage — pushing Obama on the matter (Steven Livingston, Washington Post). The Ds at that time were often reluctant to support gay marriage in public, because they had been burned terribly on the matter by W Bush. But Biden did! 📎 Odds & Ends 📎 BMW files patent to harvest energy from speed bumps! Paige Bennett, EcoWatch A patent from BMW would create a new vehicle suspension design that could harness energy as the vehicle drives over speed bumps. CarBuzz, a website for vehicle news, uncovered documents from the German Patent and Trade Mark Office for a suspension design by BMW that could obtain energy from speed bumps and other road obstacles. By doing so, it could charge EVs as they drive. As a vehicle drives it usually absorbs energy from road obstacles into the springs of the suspension, and the energy then dissipates as heat. But BMW’s design includes a generator that, through an actuator, connects to a suspension control arm. As a wheel goes over a bump, a stabilizer arm twists and rotates the actuating disc, CarBuzz explained. The wheel goes back down to meet the road after passing the obstacle, and the energy moves to the spring. There are good people out there! x Just watched an incredible segment on 60 MINUTES in which a tech entrepreneur restored an African national park and lifted up the surrounding community for something around $100 million. Seems like a better use of wealth than like, you know, buying Twitter. — James Oliphant (@jamesoliphant) December 5, 2022 Here is more by Scott Pelley for CBS News (no paywall, please enjoy it) Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park was the envy of Africa. Wildlife drew tourists from around the world. But, beginning in the 1960's, a manmade catastrophe slaughtered the animals until, it was said, there was nothing left but mosquitos and landmines. In 2008, we followed an American entrepreneur who dreamed of returning a wasteland to greatness. Now, 14 years later, Greg Carr has something to show the world. And we couldn't resist a return to Gorongosa when Carr sends invitations like this. Greg Carr: Just come and sit at a sunset by the lake, in the center of this national park, I mean, time stops. And you get a hundred colors of yellow, and a hundred colors of orange, and then the dusk sets in, and then a flock of birds go over the water. And there's a hippo over there, making a noise, and there's an impala over there. And you know? It's, like, "Well, I coulda been here a hundred thousand years ago and it might have been the same." Greg Carr's wonder is almost like disbelief. A million acres of Africa, reborn. Not quite a gnu, but northern cousin: 🐦 I do a lot of other writing. A recent offering: Hunters of the Feather, a story about a thinker-linker crow who wants to save birdkind from extinction, and the sequel, Scavengers of Mind. (They’re really good! They’re really cheap! Buy and review or rate positively! And Hunters is also available on Audible!) Other stories, based on Jane Austen novels — including a new one for lovers of Pride & Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s Advice to Young Ladies — and others on Greek mythology, can be found here. All titles are available through Kindle Unlimited, but I only get paid if you turn the pages. 💙 What You Can Do to Rescue Democracy 💙 It turns out that participation in democracy is not just an every-four-years event but requires active participation, like, whenever you can find time. Current projects: Look in the comments for Progressive Muse’s report on Postcards to Voters And some other ideas: You can relax and recharge. You can join protests and freeway blog. You can help register new voters. You can smile. You can get out the vote for special elections. You can reach out to upset Republicans. We need to win some back. You can share your ideas below. 🌻 💙 “Our history has been a constant struggle between the American ideal that we all are created equal and the harsh ugly reality that racism, nativism, fear, demonization have long torn us apart. The battle is perennial, and victory is never assured.” 💙 President Joseph R. Biden 🌹 🌹 🌹 [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/12/9/2140072/-Good-News-Roundup-for-Friday-December-9-2022-What-We-Do-Matters Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/