Public Comment

Bidding Bye-Bye to Biden
On July 21, Joe Biden announced that he was passing the presidential torch after four tremendous years (and several tempestuous weeks). In reply, the activist org MoveOn, published a note of appreciation that began with this tribute: "We are grateful for his administration’s incredible work—including passing historic climate and health care policies and providing economic relief for millions of families." 

Meanwhile, in an addendum to an extensive article critical of Trump, the editor of Socialist Action offered the following critical re-cap of Joe Biden's long—and not always liberal — political career:
50 Years of Service: An Editor’s Note
"Joseph Biden’s 50 years in US government 'service' included his central role as the Democratic Party’s liaison between its openly racist/segregationist wing, the heirs of the slavocracy, and its Northern corporate 'liberals.'
"Biden was dismissive of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s sexual harassment charges brought by Anita Hill (1991), wrote the most racist and punitive crime law in US history (1994), wrote a counterterrorism bill that expanded the federal death penalty against people who hadn’t committed murder and became a model for the Patriot Act (1996), proposed cutting Social Security (1995), voted against gay marriage (1996), backed the gutting of welfare (1996), voted to repeal Glass-Steagel, setting the stage for the financial crisis (1999), voted for the Patriot Act (2001) and the Iraq War (2002/3), voted against bankruptcy protections for students (2005) and armed a genocide (2023/4)" 

Politicartoons
Once again, the Chronicle's comic pages have offered-up some eyebrow-raising political-economic revelations. In a recent Pearls Before Swine strip, former-lawyer-turned-cartoonist Stephan Pastis sends his character Rat to seek wisdom from a guru donkey who dwells in a mountain retreat. The character is reverently referred to as "The Wise Ass on the Hill." 

In the July 23 strip, Rat ventures uphill to ask a question: "What percentage of Americans are millionaires?" The Wise Ass replies: "Around five percent." 

Rat follows up with a second question: "And the same percentage holds true for our public servants in Congress?" Wise Ass replies: "More than half of them are millionaires." 

Back on solid ground, Rat shares this epiphany with Pig, declaring: "Our servants have stolen the kingdom." 

Could SCOTUS Ruling Free Biden to Pack the Court?
The country is still reeling from the ruling of the conservative hard-right wing of the Supreme Court that Donald Trump—were he to win (or seize) a second term as president—would essentially be "above the law." But this ruling could sink the expectations of the pro-Trump jurists for the simple reason that the king-like powers intended to empower a GOP president now apply to the current "lame duck" occupant of the Oval Office—Joe Biden. 

Biden currently has the power to see former Rep. Val Demings taking a seat on the Post Office's Board of Governors, thereby adding a pro-democracy member to the USPS board—an essential step to firing Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy. DeJoy, a multimillionaire, has worked to "Trump the vote" by discouraging the delivery of mail-in ballots in presidential elections. But thanks to Court's "above the law" ruling, Biden may now have the power to dismiss DeJoy outright. Thanks to Trump's Supremes, Biden now has five months left to exercise kingly powers to enact laws that benefit the many instead of the few. 

Fashion Plates
Personalized license plates spotted about town.
AWL BLCK
HI OREO
KURO JAX
N12345R
FIATSLG
ROCK VOX
SLOW CT
OKTMICE
EMILYRS
OILTANK
BK NITE
YNZOGY (Wines. Oh, gee! Why?)
Bumpersnickers 

Carbon Tax Me
Mutant Freedom Now
I'm Already Against the Next War
Humane Meat Is Yuppie Bullshit *Ask Any Cow
Honk If You Don't Exist
I'm Not Drunk I'm Just Avoiding Potholes
No Baby on Board. So Hit Me, I Guess
This Baby Goes from Zero to Sixty. Eventually
Mall-Wart: Your Choice for Cheap Plastic Crap
For Such a Small Town There Sure Are a Lot of Idiots Here 

A Breathtaking Public Service Ad
In March, a public service group called The Real Cost released a 30-second ad that's now been viewed 4.3 million times. It exposes how oil pollution from "energy companies" in the Amazon creates a chemical danger that puts teen "vapers" at risk. 

EXXON Ad: If Big Oil Were to Tell the Truth
A quick roundup of extreme weather, climate science, and climate action headlines from Yellow Dot Studios and Adam McKay, the Academy Award-winning writer and director of "Don't Look Up." The core message: "Oil companies are killing us, our leaders are letting them, and the media is MIA." 

A quick roundup of extreme weather, climate science, and climate action headlines from Yellow Dot Studios and Adam McKay, the Academy Award-winning writer and director of "Don't Look Up." The core message: "Oil companies are killing us, our leaders are letting them, and the media is MIA." 

Trump Wasn't the Only Would-be Dictator 

Donald Trump sent a chill through the nation's airwaves when he was asked about his authoritarian traits should he win the presidential race and return to the Oval Office. In a word: "Would you become a dictator?" To which Trump replied: "Only on day one." 

President Joe Biden, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos on July 5, was even more disturbing when he described his future global ambitions: 

Look. I have a cognitive test every single day. Every day I have that test. Everything I do. You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. Not—and that's not hi—sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world. 

(Click here to see AI images of Joe Biden is Running the World) 

And that's the gist of much of today's global angst: The US is a global empire but an empire in decline. Despite having more than 900 military bases in more that 70 foreign nations (backed up by a global expeditionary force called NATO), the US' self-proclaimed role as "the world's only essential nation" is under competitive economic "threat" from the rival economies of Russia and China. 

Saluting Those Who Said "Bye-bye" to Bibi
According the Axios, more than 100 legislators boycotted Benjamin Netanyahu's address to Congress. Here is a list of those who refused to support Netanyahu's genocide of Palestinian men, women, and children: 

Representatives 

Senators