The Conversation -- September 4, 2023
Sabrina Siddiqui & Catherine Lucey of the Wall Street Journal: "Voters overwhelmingly think President Biden is too old to run for re-election and give him low marks for handling the economy and other issues important to their vote, according to a new Wall Street Journal poll that offers a stark warning to the 80-year-old incumbent ahead of the 2024 contest.... And Biden is tied with ... Donald Trump in a potential rematch of the 2020 election, with each holding 46% support in a head-to-head test.... Although the candidates are only three years apart, 73% of voters said they feel Biden is too old to seek a second term, compared with 47% of voters who said the same of the 77-year-old Trump. Two-thirds of Democrats said Biden was too old to run again. By an 11-point margin, more voters see Trump rather than Biden as having a record of accomplishments as president -- some 40% said Biden has such a record, while 51% said so of Trump. By an eight-point margin, more voters said Trump has a vision for the future. And by 10 points, more described Trump as mentally up to the presidency." ~~~
~~~ Marie: As you know, I don't often link poll reports, but this one was so horrifying, I thought I'd share it. The notion that Trump could boast more "accomplishments" than Biden is mind-blowing. Fox "News" or Facebook must be sending subliminal messages to viewers & users. On the other hand, I do think Biden should drop out of the race now. As the reporters point out, he would be 86 at the end of a second term. That's just too old. Trump would be 82; not that it matters, because he probably would refuse to leave office. BTW, I don't know why I was able to link to the WSJ story, since I don't have a subscription. But I got a possible clue: at first, the page showed up blank & contained a notice that I'd have to buy a subscription to read the story; then the whole article appeared, and at the end of the URL, there's an extension that reads, "mod=followamazon". So I suspect my Amazon Prime account is giving me access. If you're logged into an Amazon Prime account, you too might be able to link WSJ stories, or at least some WSJ stories. Or maybe not.
Fatima Hussein of the AP: "President Joe Biden, who often says he's the most pro-union president in history, touted the importance of unions and applauded American workers in building the economy during a Labor Day appearance in Philadelphia on Monday.... 'This Labor Day we're celebrating jobs, good-paying jobs, jobs you can raise a family on, union jobs,' Biden told the crowd gathered Monday. Instead of standing at the podium, the president held the microphone in his hand and walked around the stage behind signs that read 'UNION STRONG.'"
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The paintings above, by Judy Taylor, are part of a series on the history of labor in Maine. They now hang in the Maine State Museum. They were designed for and hung in 2008 in the state's Department of Labor. In 2011, Gov. Paul LePage (R) had the murals removed from the Labor building and put in storage because LePage thought they were too pro-labor FDR's secretary of labor, Frances Perkins, is depicted in the first mural pictured above.
E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post: "Many ... indicators suggest that labor's long decline is over. Heralds of change include well-publicized organizing efforts in new sectors of the economy, broad public sympathy for the Hollywood writers' struggle, and big wage gains by workers increasingly willing to strike for them. There is also President Biden, the most outspokenly pro-labor president since Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.... On Wednesday, Biden's Labor Department proposed a rule that would make an estimated 3.6 million salaried workers eligible for overtime pay. The week before, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), transformed by Biden's appointments, issued a decision that will boost union organizing after decades in which management held the upper hand. On top of that, the day before, the NLRB issued another rule requiring prompt union elections, a further blow against employer delaying tactics.... And in June, the NLRB made it harder for employers to classify workers as 'independent contractors,' allowing them to join unions and access other labor law protections."
Jessica Contrera & Gillian Brockell of the Washington Post: "Around the turn of the 20th century, at least 18 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 15 were employed. [Lewis] Hine's searing images of those children remade the public perception of child labor and inspired the laws to ban it.... Hine's photos showed the price [of child labor]: unsafe working conditions, dangerous machinery and business owners who refused to educate the children or limit their working hours.... Now, conservative lawmakers in a handful of states are seeking to relax child labor protections. Their efforts come amid a renewed focus on child labor sparked largely by recent reporting on the prevalence of undocumented immigrant children working at meatpacking plants, auto factories and other dangerous job sites." Includes photographs.
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Tennessee. Speaking of Labor. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "A woman gave birth alone in a jail cell in Tennessee on Tuesday after seeking medical attention for more than an hour, the authorities said, raising questions about the care provided to the woman and her baby.... The woman, whose name has not been made public, was incarcerated at the Montgomery County Jail in Clarksville, Tenn., about 50 miles northwest of Nashville, when she notified a deputy at 11:31 a.m. about a 'medical concern,' according to the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office. A nurse arrived a few minutes later, the sheriff's office said. The nurse assessed the woman and then left to consult with other medical staff members. Another nurse arrived at 11:54 a.m. to 'conduct a follow-up assessment,' according to the sheriff's office. The medical staff members left to continue to 'assess the situation and order additional medical tests,' the sheriff's office said. However, at 12:41 p.m., a deputy went to the cell and 'discovered that the inmate had given birth while in her cell,' the sheriff's office said. The deputy helped the woman while medical staff members were alerted. The woman and her baby were taken to a hospital, where they remained in stable condition...." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So we're supposed to believe that two nurses and numerous "medical staff" couldn't figure out that a woman was in labor and about to give birth. My guess is that the woman was screaming, "The baby's about to come! The baby's about to come!" or something like that. The sheriff's cover story is bull.
Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "With television ads and text messages, direct mail and billboards, supporters of the embattled Texas attorney general, Ken Paxton, have embarked on an escalating campaign of political pressure, backed by hard-right billionaires, aimed at trying to sway the outcome of Mr. Paxton's upcoming impeachment trial. The targets of their efforts are narrow: the 19 Republican members of the State Senate who will act as jurors in the trial, set to begin on Tuesday, and decide whether allegations of corruption and abuse of power are serious enough to warrant permanently removing and barring Mr. Paxton from office. But the effort to save Mr. Paxton, who is seen by many hard-core conservatives as their legal standard-bearer, is also the latest proxy in the broader fight over the future direction of the party, both in Texas and nationally." ~~~
~~~ Marie: In the range of deplorable GOP politicians, on a scale of 1 to 10, Ken Paxton is a 10.
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Reader Comments (6)
According to reports from China and Sweden, the new Covid variant
may no be as potent as once thought. Report from USA is supposed
to come out today.
I don't think that means we should ignore the upcoming vaccination
though, at least for oldsters like me.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/03/health/covid-new-variant-pirola-
early-lab-results/index.html
From NYT
"Why Did a Drug Gang Kill 43 Students? Text Messages Hold Clues.
The Mexican police, military officers and others secretly colluded with a cartel that kidnapped 43 students, a case unsolved after nearly a decade. Wiretaps show just how much the authorities helped the cartel behind the mass abduction, and what led to it."
Tijuana, Mexico. Hate to post anything from Fox, but somehow the irony seeps through. https://www.foxnews.com/us/mexico-places-piece-berlin-wall-near-us-border-may-this-be-lesson
Writing in Salon, Kurt Swearingen comments on David Brooks New York Times recent pieces "about how we should just get along. In two August opinion pieces, he places the onus on the 'highly educated elite' to take more responsibility in forming Abraham Lincoln's more perfect union...The gist of Brooks' argument seems to be that educated liberals need to take responsibility for annoying conservatives. In Brooks' view, the highly educated are also to blame for the fact that America's political culture has gotten so rancorous. Or at least we need to seriously consider that, he suggests. "
As someone who always covered my ears to the sounds of Limbaugh and Gingrich, I found Swearingen's description of their roles in creating the current republican cult of trump interesting.
<"Can't we all get along?">
Laura,
Excellent piece by Swearingen. Thanks.
My German family is still with us but I had a chance to dip into R.C. today and want to thank Laura for the excellent piece by Kirk Sweatingen. The following stood out for me:
"The highly educated elites on the left may annoy David Brooks. They sometimes annoy me. But Republican political grifters consistently attack women's rights, voting rights, civil rights and the right of LGBTQ people to be treated as full citizens, They fight every measure that might help those left behind: supporting public education, raising the minimum wage, bolstering union rights, forgiving student debt, rebuilding our infrastructure. They implacably work against the interests of the working class and younger people. I wonder if Brooks has considered how those attacks on the basic needs of human beings, along with the Trumpist attacks on democracy and decency in general, have affected our national mental health crisis...
There are many reasons we have broken relationships in this country. The blame must fall on those who have consciously lied to the public, dehumanized their political opponents and turned their back on democracy. How could we not have a mental health crisis when so much of the public has been instructed by their political leaders not to acknowledge the crises of gun culture and climate change that face us all? As Orwell writes, "The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command."
And I like the fact that Kirl is a poet!