ICYMI
There was a video clip posted on Abbreviated Pundit Roundup the other day. Maybe you saw it:
WOW.
That’s just the beginning of the story.
I live here in Maine and so when I see the Pine Tree State on DailyKOS I always pay attention. This one got me to the point of writing an email to the Representative to point out that I was gobsmacked. I decided to investigate a bit further and not wait for a reply. When I did, I found this:
fb.watch/…
Her speech was five minutes thirtynine seconds in length, and the clip that was shown starts at the fiftynine second mark. It seemed to come from OCCUPY Democrats, but on X it was shared by the Maine House Democratic Committee.
Background on LD 2130
The subject at hand was LD 2130, a bill to prohibit neo-Nazi training camps being conducted in Maine. This was engendered by an attempt by “Blood Tribe” to set up a training camp. They could not keep up the payments on the property they bought and went bankrupt.
That’s about all you need to know on this aspect of the speech. the bill passed, 71 to 70 along party lines. www.aclumaine.org/.… and Representative Libby referred to it. Please note the linked statement does not address the first amendment concerns that Libby raised, but focuses on the way that firearms instructors intend their teaching to be used.
The bill now goes to the State Senate, and from there to the Governor.
In the meantime……
Maine will soon be discussing LD 2283 which would revise the state’s Yellow Flag Law and replace it with a Red Flag Law. The recent history includes the recent mass shooting with eighteen fatalities in Lewiston Maine (adjacent to Ms. Libby’s district) by stream lining the process by which guns can be confiscated form a person with severe mental health issues who is making threats. This in and of itself has a long history which I won’t recap. The state chapter of NRA has now mobilized and there is expected to be a lot of dialogue.
FaceBook Page for Rep Libby
I wanted to learn more about Laurel Libby and did a websearch, of course. She has a FaceBook page for her candidacy. Naturally, the comments posted there blew up just in the last couple of days.
Regular Candidate Page
Sha also has a regular web page. If you go to the News section, there is a header titled “Giveaway” where she is raffling off a box of 9 MM ammo. She calls them “a case of 1,000 MagTech 115GR 9MM liberty seeds!” (reminder, her district is adjacent to the one where the mass shooting took place).
And a YouTube channel. Here is a clip sharing her views on women’s reproductive rights.
This is not about the specific issues. Yes it is true she supports guns, opposed abortion, is against taxes. Quotes the bible. Thinks there is nothing wrong with neo-Nazis. The usual cluster of a MAGA clone.
What she doesn’t do?
Two days ago, she had a short blurb that said she supports Trump. Today I could not find it (can you?) So, she sidesteps the question as to who won the 2020 election I guess. She does not mention her church. She gives all the GOP talking points but she is very coy.
The Dinner Table
Somewhere she did mention “The Dinner Table” which has a webpage of it’s own. And there you can see their recruiting video.
dinnertableaction.com/…
The videos on their web pages do not remotely address the actual issues, which to me is an acknowledgement that they know darn well that sentiments lean to the other side (us, the democrats, the good guys!) and that their views are not popular. What they are selling instead is — friendship. A direct appeal to person who need a sense of belonging. They now have a year-round tribe (probably supported by their church) and their mission is to their friends.
The Dinner Table is the real topic of this diary. I wanted to retrace for you the way they start out with an innocuous appeal to lonely seniors and end up with a conservative platform that is actually set by “others.” I tried to connect the dots here without getting lost in the weeds.
In conclusion
I suppose this diary should end with a specific call to action. I leave it up to every reader to give input as to how to do a better job in motivating the troops to work for the change we wish to see, and above all to motivate the troops to get out and vote. Somebody has to go out and see what the opposition is doing, and today was my turn. You can do parallel sleuthing in your own neighborhood.