Tuesday, August 19, 2025

We've all lost confidence in our corrupts Supreme Court

You know it, I know it: We have a corrupt Supreme Court.  They'll probably go along with an IRS change.  But I wouldn't risk it.  Some are ready to.  Alex Henderson reports:


Far-right white evangelicals are applauding a new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rule that allows pastors to make political endorsements in the pulpit, including the Family Research Council. But Christianity is far from monolithic, and individual churches don't necessarily approve of the practice even though the IRS is now allowing it.
In Kenosha, Wisconsin, the Rev. Jonathan Barker found that out the hard way.

Barker, until recently, preached at the Grace Lutheran Church, where the liberal/progressive Mainline Protestant pastor planned to give a sermon endorsing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) for president in the United States' 2028 election. But when the church objected — regardless of the new IRS rule — he ended up resigning, according to the New York Times.
Barker still gave the pro-AOC sermon, but not in the Grace Lutheran Church pulpit.

In an article published on August 19, Times reporters David A. Fahrenthold and Elizabeth Dias explain, "The odd battle that played out last week over one sermon for one Lutheran congregation in Kenosha, an industrial city on Lake Michigan, was an illustration of the sharply different ways that American churches have responded to the IRS' surprise reinterpretation of the decades-old law. It may have also foreshadowed many similar fights to come."

Travis Gettys covers the same story:

The 41-year-old Barker had been trying to rejuvenate his church, which had dwindled from 1,500 attendees in the 1950s to 20 or 30 people on most Sundays, by focusing on liberal causes, and he did not provide advance notice to church leaders about his plan but instead sent out a news release to reporters, hoping to encourage other progressive-minded pastors to join him in advocacy.

“I said, ‘Jon, we just agreed as a group that this is not a good idea,’” said Bishop Paul D. Erickson, who oversees churches in southeast Wisconsin, after catching wind of the plan.

Erickson urged Barker to reconsider because his advocacy could potentially jeopardize the tax exemption for the denomination’s other churches.


As a Black woman growing up in Atlanta, I know the line between church and state.  And my church did not try to bend or break the law.  I think it's a good one: No political endorsements from churches.  

If they want to endorse, they need to pay taxes.  It's not fair otherwise. 


"The Snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):

Tuesday, August 19, 2025.  Chump plans to steal the 2026 mid-terms while Bernie Sanders attacks Kamala Harris with lies for the second time this month.  That's not how we pull together and big tent.



Let's start with Reese Waters from yesterday.


And TABITHA SPEAKS from last week.




We are tired of it.  White progressives,' we are tired of it.

We're tired of you lying about Kamal and we're real tired of you refusing to get that Bernie has a Black problem.  We don't worship him like you do, we don't cut him slack for his racism.

A lot of us are trying to do what I am which is big tent, big tent, big tent.  Avoid trashing other Dems as much as possible, work on pulling the party together, stand up to the enemy that is Chump.

But then you get crusty lipped Bernie attacking Kamala Harris.

And let's be clear, though I know some of you White 'progressives' nodded a long with Bernie's attacks, he's lying.  

He is distorting Kamala and her campaign.  

We saw that go down last fall and we have not forgotten.  You need to your old man to stop trying to stir up s**t because this doesn't end well.


Some of you White 'progressives' nodding along with Bernie due so because of the crap-fest that passes for 'independent' media on the left.  

It was something to see in the fall, to watch Kamala be attacked for not doing this or that by White media like COMMON DREAMS when, in fact, Kamala was doing what they were saying she wasn't.  COMMON DREAMS ran an article attacking her for not talking about women's health when she'd just done that -- talked about women's health -- to ESSENCE magazine.  But White 'progressives' apparently can't read a publication if the target audience is Black women.  

We could go though this with multiple examples, but I'm just going to note two.

From the August 29th "Iraq snapshot:"


Starting with the US presidential elections, I believe the whine goes something like this: "Kamala hasn't done any interviews!"





That's what the mail brought me yesterday.  Page 48 kicks off Caroline Wanga's six page interview with the Democratic Party's presidential nominee.  The two discuss a number of issues including the economy.  I'll note this from the interview 


Kamala Harris:  I have been working on that issue for years -- with my colleagues from the CBC [Congressional Black Caucus] when I was in the Senate and now as Vice President.  Why? Because Black women in the United States of America are three to four times more likely to die in connection with childbirth than other women.  And we know that there are a variety of reasons for that.  But we also know that this is a health care crisis of the highest order, and it has received very little attention proportionate to the seriousness of the matter.  So, I worked with my colleagues when I was in the Senate.  We passed a number of ills.  When I came in as Vice President, I continue to work on it.  And one of the things I found is this: For women on Medicaid, which states can provide for postpartum care for two months up to 12 months -- and I realized when I came in as Vice President, only three states would extend Medicaid coverage for postpartum care from two months to 12 months.  I don't have a problem shaming people sometimes, so I challenged the states to extend it.  And now 46 states have extended Medicaid coverage for postpartum care.  There is a direct connection between this and Black maternal mortality.  But back to the other point about freedom of choice.  The majority of Black women in America live in the South You know that in the South, we have some of the highest rates of Black maternal mortality.  In the South, except for the state of Virginia, every state has an abortion ban.  And what I find hypocrisy upon hypocrisy, by some of these extremists, is that the same ones saying they're passing these abortion bans because they care about women and children have been completely silent on the issue of Black maternal mortality.  Don't come to us, gaslighting us about where you've been and where you haven't been, on important issues that relate to what we know every day affects our sisters, our mothers, our aunties, our grandmothers -- and could affect our daughters. 


A few comments.  The interview is not online.  I have no idea if it will be posted or not.  Currently at ESSENCE,  Jasmine Browley has an article about Kamala and the opportunity economy that went up this week and Robyn Mowatt looks at political style.  Second, the cover notes "COLLECTOR'S EDITION."  If you're a subscriber like me, you may grimace.  But they used a real sticker that peels off -- not a paper label that's basically glued to the cover -- and it's very easy and doesn't tear the cover when you remove it.  After I removed it, I scanned for the image above (notice no tear in the lower corner) and took the cover off the magazine.  It's now framed and up in my home office. 


From the October 16th "Iraq snapshot"

At ESSENCE, Melissa Noel reports:


The Kamala Harris' campaign is making its most direct appeal yet to Black men, rolling out new policies, boosting programming and a targeted media blitz to win over a crucial part of the electorate. With Republicans eyeing Black male voters in a big way this election, the vice president's team is on the move and not leaving anything to chance.

On Monday, Harris introduced her "Opportunity Agenda for Black Men." The plan centers on providing up to 1 million fully forgivable loans of up to $20,000 for Black entrepreneurs and investing in training, mentorship, and apprenticeships for Black men in high-demand industries. Harris is also pushing for the legalization of recreational marijuana—paired with a focus on ensuring Black men access wealth and jobs in that market.

"This agenda is a further realization of Vice President Harris' Opportunity Economy. An economy where people don't just get by, but get ahead. Where Black men are equipped with the tools to thrive: to buy a home, provide for our families, start a business and build wealth," said Congressman and Harris-Walz Campaign Co-Chair Cedric Richmond in astatement shared with ESSENCE. 

"Donald Trump could care less about equipping hardworking Americans with the tools needed to get ahead. From being investigated by the Department of Justice for refusing to rent to Black tenants to falsely accusing the Central Park 5 and calling for their execution to spreading the racist birther conspiracy theory against President Obama, at every step of his life, Donald Trump put Black men down for his own personal brand. If he wins in November, he is telling us exactly what he'll do to Black men, Richmond added. 


I'm glad ESSENCE exists.  I'm a longterm subscriber to the print edition.  But it's an amazing, less than a month away from an election, ESSENCE can report on this very important proposal but COMMON DREAMS can't and won't.  Nor IN THESE TIMES.  Nor THE PROGRESSIVE -- an outlet with a token or two but the tokens know what they're allowed to cover, they know who's running the plantation.  That's a very important proposal and it's one that deserves serious exploration.  But so-called news outlets in 'independent' media can't be bothered.


Search in vain for any amplification of that coverage from ESSENCE at COMMON DREAMS, THE NATION, IN THESE TIMES, THE PROGRESSIVE, etc etc.  

The most minor story in THE NEW YORK TIMES will get amplified  but say "ESSENCE" and watch the White flight take place.

Bernie doesn't know what he's talking about.

And how does he help anyone by attacking Kamala to begin with?

She's not in the White House.  Donald Chump is.

That's supposed to be our focus but along comes Bernie to try to beat up the Black woman with lies.

We're sick of it.  Black people have had enough of this s**t.  

I know Black women who plan to site out 2026 because of the way Kamala and we were disrespected by the left or 'left.'  I know Black women who are slowing leaving a staycation and trying to get back involved -- and that group is going to bolt if you don't stop the attacks on Kamala.

White 'progressives' like Sam Seder had 801 topics they cover every week but they refused to cover the very real topic of the attacks on Kamala during the election and the attacks on Black women supporting Kamala during the election.   I'm not referring to the right-wingers attacking, I'm referring to people who claimed to be of the left.


You think you can ignore the topic.  But when you do, you just make clear to Black people how little you truly care about us and our issues.  

Bernie is nothing to praise and I could take him down every day -- his faux support for immigrants, for example, is a very easy stance to expose (he's anti-immigrant and has long been that and we can look at how little support he has given to immigrants seized by ICE in Vermont).  I'm trying to focus on defeating Chump and saving the country.

But if Bernie keeps attacking Kamala, you're going to find out just how angry Black people are -- still are -- over the stunts so many of you White progressives played last fall.  

You want us to pull together as a big tent?  Stop the attacks on Kamala.  Stop lying.  We've had enough and we're not going to take much more of this.

Mike covered this topic in "Katie Phang, TABITHA SPEAKS and more" and Marcia did so in "Olay, pay attention, Tabitha's showing you the strength a real Black woman has" most recently. And if you're new to the way certain elements of the left or 'left worked to put Chump in the White House last fall, refer to "2024: The Year of Betrayal From Inside The Left."


We're supposed to have a common enemy.  If you think that's Kamala Harris, you are part of the effort working to ensure that MAGA remains in power for decades.



On Monday morning, President Trump returned to a longtime fixation, posting on Truth Social that he was “going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS” by “signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections.”

The post came just after Trump’s Friday summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin—not known for his love of free and fair elections—who allegedly counseled Trump that “your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,” a message Trump promptly relayed to Fox News’ Sean Hannity.

Trump already led a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots, helping to push for a spate of anti-voter state laws both in the run-up to the 2020 election and after his loss. But each successive crackdown strips voting rights from disabled and aging voters, who disproportionately rely on absentee ballots and voter assistance laws to participate in democracy.

Some experts question whether the White House even has the power to take further steps to ban voting by mail; a plethora of lawsuits would likely follow any executive order against it. 

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