I Speak of Dreams

A Running List of GOP Senators Who Are Snubbing President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris

Republican Senators Who Have Refused to Congratulate Biden/Harris

• Name, state, year current term expires
• Richard Shelby, Alabama, 2022
• Tommy Tubervielle, Alabama, 2026
• Dan Sullivan, Alaska, 2026
• John Boozman, Arkansas, 2022
• Tom Cotton, Arkansas, 2026
• Marco Rubio, Florida, 2022
• Rick Scott, Florida, 2024
• David Purdue, Georgia, 2020 (runoff election January 5, 2021)
• Kelly Loeffler, Georgia, 2020 (runoff election January 5, 2021)
• Mike Crapo, Idaho, 2022
• Jim Risch, Idaho, 2026
• Todd Young, Indiana, 2022
• Mike Braun, Indiana, 2024
• Chuck Grassley, Iowa, 2022
• Joni Ernst, Iowa, 2026
• Roger Marshall, Kansas 2026
• Jerry Moran, Kansas, 2022
• Mitch McConnell, Kentucky, 2026
• Rand Paul, Kentucky, 2022
• Bill Cassidy, Louisiana, 2026
• John Kennedy, Louisiana, 2022
• Roger Wicker, Mississippi, 2024
• Cindy Hyde-Smith, Mississippi 2026
• Roy Blunt, Missouri, 2022
• Josh Hawley, Missouri, 2024
• Steve Daines, Montana, 2026
• Deb Fischer, Nebraska, 2024
• Richard Burr, North Carolina, 2022
• Thom Tillis, North Carolina, 2026 (not called yet)
• John Hoeven, North Dakota, 2022
• Kevin Cramer, North Dakota, 2024
• Rob Portman, Ohio, 2022
• Jim Inhofe, Oklahoma, 2026
• James Lankford, Oklahoma, 2022
• Pat Toomey, Pennsylvania, 2022
• Lindsey Graham, South Carolina, 2026
• Tim Scott, South Carolina, 2022
• John Thune, South Dakota, 2022
• Mike Rounds, South Dakota, 2026
• Bill Hagerty, Tennessee, 2026
• Marsha Blackburn, Tennessee, 2024
• John Cornyn, Texas, 2026
• Ted Cruz, Texas, 2024
• Mike Lee, Utah, 2022
• Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia, 2026
• Ron Johnson, Wisconsin, 2022
• Cynthia Lummis, Wyoming, 2026
• John Barrasso, Wyoming, 2024

Republican Senators Who Have Congratulated Biden/Harris

Saturday November 7, 2020

• Mitt Romney, Utah, 2024

Sunday November 8, 2020

• Lisa Murkowski, Alaska, 2022

Monday November 9, 202

• Ben Sasse, Nebraska, 2026
• Susan Collins, Maine, 2026

Nine Years Later

Nine years ago yesterday I was walking around downtown Manhattan with my darling niece, looking for back to school schwag of various sorts.  Then I got on the evening JetBlue back to San Francisco one of the local airports, anyway.  I went to sleep really late.

A friend called at 7:30ish, and said, "You have to wake up, you have to turn on the television".

Orac posts annually What We Saw. If you can bear it, go watch the videos. David Kroll lost a childhood friend that day, John Michael Griffin, Jr, and writes of his heroism. Go read. The novelist Meg Cabot writes about her experiences on the day.  Jesse Robbins reminds us that 343 members of the New York Fire Department died serving their city that day.

To all the families who have lost loved ones, from 9/11 through today, from the consequences of that day: My condolences on your loss.  For those families of service men and women who have died: thank you for your loved one's service and sacrifice.  May you all find peace.

Marriage Equality: What Next? danah boyd says, "Education"

I'm heartsick that Prop. 8 passed.  But now what?  How do we go forward?  I like what danah boyd has to say:

I think that we need to spend the next year convincing those around us that this is discrimination. I think that everyone - gay and straight - needs to start conversations about what it means to be in a same-sex loving relationship. I'm not interested in trying to convince people that their churches should accept same-sex marriage. I'm interested in helping people understand that church marriages are not the same as state marriages. And that when it comes to the state, it's of utmost importance that there's no discrimination. The Catholic Church is more than welcome to discriminate wrt marriage. They already do. You can't get married in a Catholic church if you're not Catholic. But the state should not be discriminatory, especially when so many rights and freedoms and economic benefits are afforded to married couples.

Update:  Shouldn't marriage equality be a very top issue for Americans United for Separation of Church and State?  Blog posts there:

May 2008:  " Many Californians, religious and non-religious, have an opposite understanding. They see the referendum as a battle for church-state separation. They have families too, and they don’t want them to live in a theocracy."

October 2008: "Look out, California, the Religious Right is bringing out the big guns!"

October 2008: "Here’s the bottom line: When it comes to religion and government, let no church group join together, what the Constitution hath put asunder."

Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.

Lookout, Blues, the Reds are In the House

(Humor Alert: Evidently a few people are taking the Iowahawk story seriously......I'm serious here: ) Where else is there for the kids to go? The moms and dads are already taking up the insane sex, rock'n'roll & drugs space,

(But this is clever humor--check Internet Progress by Googling for Dollywood Values)

We try hard to engage all of our students in fun, healthy activities like Progressive Eco-Action March and Rage Against Intolerance Week," says Lawrence DiBenedetto of Patrice Lumumba Magnet School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. "Unfortunately, there are going to be those who fall through the cracks, into a life of bass fishing and stockcar racing."

A curtsey to Glenn, and a nod to LGF, but I really started at

Stealth Endorsement

You know that I am sure homeopathy doesn't work--indeed, it is quackery. "Scotopic Sensitivity" doesn't exist, so it can't be "improved" or "remediated". There are a lot of dyslexia "treatments" that likewise fail the independent research test.

One criticism to all of the fringe efforts--in this instance, especially intelligent design (a proxy for creationism) is that proponents of these ideas have not been able to pass muster in the process of science known as peer review, with implies that the ideas so proposed aren't scientifically verifiable.

There's now an explanation how the peer-review process has been finessed,

About Abortion

I met Marijo because she had a blog called "What Happens When You Tell a Lie"..

Now she has written what I think about abortion:In order to eliminate abortion

In order to eliminate war, we do not take steps to outlaw it. Although there are pacifists, most people understand that war will sometimes be necessary until everyone in the world believes there is a better way to get what they want from others. Most of us, instead of fighting against war, itself, direct our efforts towards building a world where more people have the freedom of self-determination, so that they will not resort to violence to try to get their perceived needs met. Similarly, in order to eliminate abortion, we don’t need to fight against it– we need build a world in which actual, living children are valued more highly than profits, low taxes, and faith-based disdain for others.

She knows what she's talking about

Animal Crackers

I have been remiss of late. I have been writing about rodeo history and cattle handling history and a modern black cowgirl and other fun horse stuff, while back at the homestead Brian O'Connor has been doing the heavy lifting in keeping us alert to the dangers of the Animal Rights groups creeping up under the cover of darkness...no actually, under the cover of Animal Welfare language. Voting isn't the issue here, disputing the claims of the Animal Rightists is the issue that all of us involved with horses in sport should be militant about.

It's vitally important that we distinguish between "Animal Rights" groups and "Animal Welfare" groups. The animal rights people, of course, like to blur the distinction between their goals and those of the welfarists because it gives them (the AR crowd) an air of legitimacy, which masks their real intentions. (The situation is complicated enough, given that the two groups share some of the same prohibitions: both groups oppose torching an animal, for example).

For those who are unclear about the AR/AW distinction, my rule of thumb is this: Animal Rights people believe that animals have an intrinsic natural right not to be controlled in any way by humans. So - if you wouldn't do it to a human being, you shouldn't do it to an animal. So - animals are not to be kept as pets, eaten, caged, kept in zoos, ridden, killed for sport, used in research, hunted, made fun of, raced, bought, altered (tail and ears cut are forbidden), walked on a leash, or bred for characteristics that humans think desirable. Any person who engages in any of these practices is fair game for being branded an animal abuser, torturer, or murderer by the AR crowd.'

Aloha, Karvel of Kentucky

Clarence's brother Karvel died unexpectedly May 18, 2004. Clarence wrote a heartfelt and moving eulogy. Please go leave Clarence your condolences.

Adam Febers on Gay Marriage

There's a political humorist Adam Felbers, who is also a radio guy. (Don't miss this post and the comments).

Ed Brayton has Felber's satirical riff on those who believe same-sex marriage threatens the institution:

But this has to be seen by people. It sums up so perfectly the reasons why the arguments against gay marriage are so absurd. And I'm awarding Adam Felbers a perfect 10.0 and the gold medal for satire this week for this piece