81 Comments

VP Kamala Harris was an early supporter of the right of same-sex couples to obtain marriage licenses. In 2004 when then SF Mayor Gavin Newsom issued licenses, as SF District Attorney she officiated at wedding ceremonies. For that reason alone, I am happy the President gave her the signing pen.

Re:DeSantis - you succinctly articulated what I have been thinking. If DeSantis becomes the Republican nominee, that is merely replacing one bigoted, authoritarian demagogue with another.

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

And likely even more dangerous.

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Yes more dangerous because smarter than trump. oy. Climate change is making people crazy i think.

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Smart Trump has always been my worst nightmare

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So are we smarter now. Those of us who opposed Trump were slow to believe the willfulness, ego-mania, and depth of depravity of this so-called President. We were unable to digest that Vladimir Putin was pulling his strings in order to weaken this nation. Now we know. DeSantis, no doubt, will try our patience and good will. He may prevail in his nomination. Nevertheless, he is dishonest, prone to selfishness, and not all that smart. Or else he would recognize that we are a force to be reckoned with.

If all else fails, he still lives in a state that is vulnerable to climate chaos. That alone may derail him if his policies contribute to the problem.

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Which is why we should all be prepared to continue writing postcards, staffing phone banks… 2024 is not that far away

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Agree. Because he is smarter than trump, and comes across as less crazy, more “palatable.” He scares me.

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He is actually crazier.

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Jane Goodall equated tfg with an ape trying to dominate. tFg is as much a knuckle walker. We actually know better than to admire these authoritarian throwback to a former time... we've actually made progress in the human condition and understanding. We are all here to demand people capable of caring for others. Thanks Joyce.

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

It’s the people versus insatiable greed.

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Thanks Tutone. Greed is a well known human trait. Most of us have a little greed in us... in it benign form it is motivation. It is the insatiable greed, lust, and want to power over others, that is a throwback to a lower form of being. We also know how to control the negative manifestations of these aspects of being. We are either forgetting what we know, we're too preoccupied to do what it takes, or we are willing letting ourselves admire them... thus showing we are living in this lesser world ourselves. How is the desire to force others to live by your beliefs different than the power tfg & tFg seek?

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I wish more of us *did* know better than to admire these authoritarians, and I wish even more that they were "throwbacks to a former time." Look at the vast congregations in those mega-churches. Resemblance to the Nuremberg rallies is not coincidental.

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Thanks Susanna, Yes, I agree. We KNOW better. Some of us are just choosing to go against our own well being, kidding ourselves that Jesus was wrong in his teaching, in fact all great teaches were wrong, even nature is wrong... only we, this small congregation, group, mob have access to truth. Frightening isn't it?

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I can only speak for myself. Others is a gray area. Anyone who dies kniw and turns away from supportibg democracy

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Hi Joyce - looking at our many accomplishments during Biden’s tenure and the Henry the 8th wannabes currently vying for power to obliterate all our sensibilities and freedoms coming in from every direction, I see you as a sane arbiter of hope every day and remember that when I start to wane. Thanks again 🇺🇸

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Can we please retire the trope that people who go to Harvard and Yale are somehow more intelligent than graduates of other colleges? These schools admit lots of people who fail to meet high intellectual standards—e.g, Jared kushner—and these people actually graduate. DeSantis may have attended Harvard but he is a liberal arts education failure—lack of intellectual curiosity, failure of empathy, rampant displays of greed and cruelty. He is intelligent in a very twisted way.

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Can we please include Princeton in this, so I can make fun of my husband, the Princeton man?

But all joking aside, this is a very good point. You can get a good education anywhere if you want one, and what you do with it is entirely up to you. The school doesn't make the person.

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founding

If it’s any consolation I can assure you that most students admitted to Harvard think there was a mistake when they receive a welcoming letter. Some don’t even open it until they get a phone call from the admissions office.

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I believe(hope) his grand jury will blow up in his face. It may be a runaway. Like Andrei Bonovia: [to Captain Tupolev] You arrogant ass! You've killed us! when the torpedo turns around in The Hunt for Red October. History will chastise republicans and be amazed at their killing a million or so and treating it as nothing.

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Yes; if there were any problem with the vaccine it would be DeSantis who would be guilty on account of his early vigorous advocacy of it- offering it to his friends, making sure nursing home patients got it, etc. I viewed him as heroic at the time - now not so much.

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Now, not at all.

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Yes, there are a lot of Captain Tupolev types dominating the Republican Party right now. Lots of ill-advised snap judgments designed to make a quck media splash. That splash will eventually explode on them, since it's not sustainable.

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I think the same thing is going to happen to Kevin and Marge if the J6 Committee will release everything. Why they haven’t is beyond the pail.

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Two years ago, I assumed Joe Biden would be an above average president at best. Thanks to you and your observations, I now view him as inspirational and might be considered one day to be one of our finest. What he is doing to hold up, articulate and enact laws that embody the vision of the America that we are called to/must be is critical, esp. in this period of Trump/DeSantis/MAGA hysteria. Thank you, MS Vance, and please keep talking to us! P.S. The University of Alabama is exceeding fortunate to have you on its faculty.

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I agree with this. Biden wasn't my first pick, but in hindsight, I'm so glad he's our president. History will view him as transformative and if he pulls off a moonshot to get nuclear fusion working, he may save us all from climate change.

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

The saddest part of all is that there are so many Americans who still follow trump and a vast majority of voters in Florida who re-elected DeSantis. I fear our media may be failing us in their reporting of DeSantis and in their acceptance that DeSantis is the likely front runner if not Trump. They should be sounding the alarm - as you have here. We’ve all seen the deadly, hateful and violent results of complacency and acceptance of aberrant behavior.

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Could not agree more. Trump may be the “late Tiberius” of Presidents but DeSantis is the “Caligula”.

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History

Emperor Marcus Aurelius was almost

the only person in the Roman empire

who did not have to do any work.

He, Nero and Caligula, spent their reigns

dodging affairs of state, loafing

about their estates and emptying

the treasuries—nary a word of protest

from their followers. Aurelius

is remembered as a great Emperor

and a good man. Today we complain

about the emperor watching a little TV,

throwing pizza at the wall, and…?

Found in:

Big Think

Tim Brinkhof

December 12, 2022

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When I saw that "splat" on the weather reports yesterday, Alabama was right in the thick of it. So I was relieved to see your post this morning.

Highlighting Biden's leadership makes this voter proud to have had a hand in getting him installed in the White House. Good Trouble, indeed!

As to DeSantis, I am hoping that his prospects for 2024 are as dim as people are saying. It would certainly be Bad Trouble if our collective memories do not remind us what happened in 2016.

Stay safe, everybody.

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All we got was a bunch or rain, but I saw the footage of New Orleans and was horrified.

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

Thank you Joyce for another succinct explanation of the law. My question - Does DeSantis, as governor, have the authority to convene a grand jury? Or is the AG in his pocket and also republican? So will go along to advance the agenda?

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A friend in Florida described their AG to me as a puppet with no mind of her own.

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I guess that’s what makes the best supporter of authoritarianism.

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Also, can the court refuse?

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Per Scientific American`s Lydia Denworth data published on 7/18/2022 there has been a "Mortality Gap" since 2001 between red states & blue states that has only increased in the successive waves of the CV19 infections fueled sharply since 2021 by the Anti-Vaxxers. The stark prognosis is simply there will be many more unnecessary COVID deaths in Florida this Winter. Those excess deaths, Desantis' Deaths, can be tracked daily if necessary.

Per Ryan Busse at The Atlantic today, the Bruen scotus' opinion by Thomas came 1 day after Dobbs

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

I'm pretty sure you meant the Respect for Marriage Act, right?

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I did and I caught it right after I hit send, it's fixed on the permanent web version, but I couldn't fix the email. I obviously have a lot of unresolved issues with that d@mn "defense of marriage" stance in government, that I viewed as reprehensible.

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I just wondering if the tipping point has not been reached and if the ‘no fanfare’ way is not the one winning fans now. Wisdom and tenacity might just win the day...

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There are very simple straightforward solutions to the DeSantis like problems we as a country face..This country is and has been in desperate times..But has yet to deploy the desperate measures necessary to extinguish this blaze of Fascism..There has been quite a bit of mention of the ballot box being used as the sharp end of the stick..However, with all of the legislation designed to cut the legs out from under the power of the vote, I’m less confident in the sharpness of that stick..

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Dec 15, 2022Liked by Joyce Vance

Joyce’s presence helps connect us with facts vs bigotry. We must stay focused on whatever we can do to win in 2024 and celebrate our freedoms right now. Close out the noise and focus.

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Your remarks are sound..with emphasis on “whatever we can do”.. I view them as part of a multi pronged strategy to crush the threat facing the country..

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Indeed 🕯️

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In the history rhymes department: This “investigation” by DeSantis feels just like his voter fraud task force. Big fanfare at announcement. Once they start arresting released felons who voted, they discover that it wasn’t their fault because they were given registration cards. Now we don’t hear much about it. I expect the same in his vaccine harm investigation. It’s accomplished what he wanted and there won’t be enough follow-on reporting once it becomes clear that there’s no there there.

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So true, I've said for a long time that DeSantis is trump with 2 more brain cells which makes him more dangerous! Let's hope the trump base rejects him.

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