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April 1, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Marie: I found it! I found it! Here's where to begin to look for your family records in the 1950 Census. ~~~
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Click to see larger image.
President Biden speaks about the March jobs report:
Elisabetta Povoledo & Ian Austen of the New York Times: "Pope Francis apologized on Friday for the Roman Catholic Church's involvement in a system of Canadian boarding schools that abused Indigenous children for 100 years, an announcement that comes after the discovery last year of signs of unmarked graves with the remains of hundreds of people, many of them children. 'I feel shame -- sorrow and shame -- for the role' that Catholics played 'in the abuses you suffered and in the lack of respect shown for your identity, your culture and even your spiritual values,' Francis said. Francis also promised he would travel to Canada, where he would be better able to 'express to you my closeness' as part of a process of healing and reconciliation."
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Clifford Krauss & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "... President Biden announced on Thursday that the United States would release up to 180 million barrels of oil from a strategic reserve to counteract the economic impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.... Gasoline prices have risen nearly $1.50 a gallon over the last year, undercutting consumer confidence. And the cost of diesel, the fuel used by most farmers and shippers, has climbed even faster, threatening to push up already high inflation on all manner of goods and services.... Mr. Biden has few tools to control commodity prices that are set on global markets, so he is turning to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, ordering the largest release since that emergency stockpile was established in the early 1970s. But the move will most likely have a modest impact because it cannot make up for all the oil, diesel and other fuels that Russia used to sell to the world but is no longer able to." ~~~
~~~ Ana Swanson of the New York Times: "President Biden took steps on Thursday to try to increase domestic production of critical minerals and metals needed for advanced technologies like electric vehicles, in an attempt to reduce America's reliance on foreign suppliers. Mr. Biden invoked the Defense Production Act, a move that will give the government more avenues to provide support for the mining, processing and recycling of critical materials, such as lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite and manganese. Those are used to make large-capacity batteries for electric cars and clean-energy storage systems. Yet except for a handful of mines and facilities, they are almost exclusively produced outside the United States. 'We need to end our long-term reliance on China and other countries for inputs that will power the future,' Mr. Biden said during remarks at the White House, where he also announced the release of one million barrels of oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve."
Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Friday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Weeks into a relentless Russian siege of the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, there were hopeful signs on Friday amid the deepening humanitarian crisis there, with an aid convoy on its way to the port city. Peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian officials were also expected to resume by video link on Friday. Ukraine's government has said it is willing to discuss forsaking any aspirations of joining NATO, as well as making territorial concessions if other nations provide security guarantees.... As Russian troops pulled out of Ukraine's shuttered Chernobyl nuclear plant five weeks after seizing it, an international nuclear watchdog agency is looking into reports that some of the soldiers are experiencing radiation poisoning.... A Pentagon spokesman, John F. Kirby, cast doubt on the reports..., saying in a news conference on Thursday that ... the troop movement appeared to be 'a piece of this larger effort to refit and resupply and not necessarily done because of health hazards or some sort of emergency or a crisis at Chernobyl.'" MB: I heard on TV that the Russian troops had dug trenches around the plant in soil that had high levels of radiation. ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Friday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Friday are here: "Russia has accused Ukraine of sending attack helicopters across the border to strike an oil storage facility in what would be the first raid on Russian soil since the outbreak of the war if confirmed. Ukraine has not confirmed that it launched the attack, raising questions about whether Russian negligence may be to blame. A Russian governor in the border region of Belgorod said that early on Friday two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters crossed the border at low altitude before firing rockets at an oil facility 25 miles from the border. Video posted to social media on Friday appeared to show a helicopter strike using air-to-ground missiles and then a major fire at the facility said to be in Belgorod, with flames reaching dozens of metres into the air." MB: I have been wondering why Ukraine had not attacked Russian facilities & military encampments near their border.
Matt Viser, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed to a temporary cease-fire in the besieged southern port city of Mariupol, with evacuations planned for Friday, even as the Pentagon reported devastating airstrikes there and in Kyiv, the capital, over the previous 24 hours. Dozens of buses began arriving in the area around Mariupol on Thursday to deliver humanitarian aid and transport civilians, an effort that a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross called 'desperately important' for a city that has borne the worst of Russia's invasion and where 100,000 residents may still be trapped.... A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the Pentagon, said Moscow could be planning to seize Mariupol as a springboard into the eastern Donbas region, where Russians troops may try to envelop Ukrainian forces. Russia's military has increasingly tried to seize towns in that part of Ukraine, the Pentagon has said, and forces pulled from the country's north appear to be heading there." ~~~
~~~ Bethan McKernan, et al., of the Guardian: "An aide to the mayor of Mariupol has said the besieged southern Ukrainian city remains closed for anyone trying to enter and is 'very dangerous' for anyone trying to leave. Petro Andryushchenko said Russian forces had since Thursday been preventing even the smallest amount of humanitarian supplies reaching trapped residents, making clear a planned 'humanitarian corridor' had not been opened. 'The city remains closed to entry and very dangerous to exit with personal transport,' he said on the Telegram messaging app on Friday. 'In addition, since yesterday the occupiers have categorically not allowed any humanitarian aid -- even in small quantities -- into the city.' A convoy of buses that set out for Mariupol did not reach the city, Ukrainian officials said on Thursday evening. Russia had promised a limited ceasefire along the route from Mariupol to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia."
Helene Cooper & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Russia is running its military campaign against Ukraine out of Moscow, with no central war commander on the ground to call the shots, according to American officials who have studied the five-week-old war. That centralized approach may go a long way to explain why the Russian war effort has struggled in the face of stiffer-than-expected Ukrainian resistance, the officials said. The lack of a unifying military leader in Ukraine has meant that Russian air, ground and sea units are not in sync. Their disjointed battlefield campaigns have been plagued by poor logistics, flagging morale and between 7,000 and 15,000 military deaths, senior U.S. officials and independent analysts say. It has also contributed to the deaths of at least seven Russian generals as high-ranking officers are pushed to the front lines to untangle tactical problems that Western militaries would leave to more junior officers or senior enlisted personnel."
<>Meryl Kornfield & Amy Cheng of the Washington Post: "Russian soldiers short on morale and weapons have refused orders, sabotaged their own equipment and shot down one of their own aircraft, Britain's spy chief said Thursday, painting a picture of chaos on Russia's front lines as the war in Ukraine drags into its second month. The efforts are evidence of ... Vladimir Putin's miscalculation when he decided to invade Ukraine, Jeremy Fleming, head of Britain's signals intelligence agency, said in a speech Thursday at Australian National University.... But other observers have cautioned against dismissing the strength of the Russian military, warning that the Kremlin has shown little sign of backing down from its war efforts."Claire Parker of the Washington Post: "For Syrians, the accounts of life in ... [Mariupol], besieged by Russian forces, sound eerily familiar. Rights groups, officials and observers have drawn comparisons to the brutal tactics Russia deployed to turn the tide of the Syrian civil war in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.... The conflicts are not the same.... But Russia continues to employ weapons and strategies honed on Syrian cities to deadly effect.... Ukrainian officials have warned that Mariupol is 'becoming a second Aleppo.'... In Mariupol, Russian forces have surrounded and bombarded the city, cutting off communications, water, gas and electricity, and preventing aid convoys from entering.... Other Ukrainian cities, such as Chernihiv, face similar conditions. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Russia this month of 'starving' Ukrainian cities."
Ben Hubbard, et al., of the New York Times: "Hundreds of Syrian fighters are en route to join Russian forces in Ukraine, effectively returning the favor to Moscow for helping President Bashar al-Assad crush rebels in an 11-year civil war, according to two people monitoring the flow of mercenaries. A first contingent of soldiers has already arrived in Russia for military training before heading to Ukraine, according to a Western diplomat and a Damascus-based ally of the Syrian government. It includes at least 300 soldiers from a Syrian army division that has worked closely with Russian officers who went to Syria to support Mr. al-Assad during the war. And many more could be on the way...."
France. BBC: "The head of French military intelligence, Gen Eric Vidaud, is losing his job after failing to predict Russia's war in Ukraine, reports say. Seven months after he took on the role, one report said he was blamed for 'inadequate briefings' and a 'lack of mastery of subjects'. The US correctly assessed that Russia was planning a large-scale invasion, while France concluded it was unlikely. Gen Vidaud was blamed for that by France's military chief, a source said. However, the military source told AFP news agency that his job was to provide 'military intelligence on operations, not on premeditation'."
Eugene Scott & John Wagner of the New York Times: "President Biden is marking Transgender Day of Visibility by celebrating the contributions that transgender Americans have made to the country while criticizing Republican-led efforts to pass legislation that the White House says is 'dangerous' to transgender people." ~~~
At Long Last. Yonat Shimron of Religion News Service: "After an eight-month delay, noted antisemitism scholar Deborah Lipstadt was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism, in a late-night voice vote Wednesday (March 30). The Senate vote was required because the position was recently elevated to the rank of ambassador. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday approved the nomination, sending it to the full Senate on a vote of 13-9 with only two Republican senators, Mitt Romney from Utah and Marco Rubio from Florida, voting in favor. Georgia Sen. Jon Ossoff introduced the motion on behalf of Lipstadt who lives in his state. She teaches at Emory University, located in Atlanta. Ossoff, who is Jewish, mentioned his great-grandparents, Israel and Annie, who fled Eastern Europe because of antisemitism in the 1910s." Also published in the Washington Post.
Linda Greenhouse of the New York Times: "When Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's Supreme Court nomination reaches the Senate floor soon, every Republican who votes against her confirmation will be complicit in the abuse that the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee heaped on her. Every mischaracterization of Judge Jackson's record on the bench. Every racist dog whistle about crime. Every QAnon shout-out about rampant child pornography. Every innuendo that a lawyer who represents suspected terrorists supports terrorism.... The Republicans' role in the Jackson hearing was ... about concocting a scary version of a Black woman to serve up to their base." MB: Greenhouse, who has proved over decades of writing about the Court that she is a remarkably temperate woman, really lets it loose here. Good for her.
Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times: "A bill to limit the cost of insulin to $35 a month for most Americans who depend on it passed the House on Thursday, raising Democrats' hopes that the party could take at least one step toward fulfilling its promise of lowering drug costs. The bill attracted unanimous support from Democrats who voted, as well as from 12 Republicans, making it a rare piece of bipartisan policy legislation. To become law, the bill will need to attract at least 10 Republican votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster..., but few Republican senators have publicly endorsed the bill yet.... The bill would have substantial benefits for many of the nearly 30 million Americans who live with diabetes." An AP story is here. MB: If there are not ten Republican senators who have family members who require insulin, the bill likely is dead. Republicans do not vote for humanitarian bills unless they can personally identify with those who would benefit from the legislation.
lan Feuer, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors have substantially widened their Jan. 6 investigation to examine the possible culpability of a broad range of figures involved in ... Donald J. Trump's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, people familiar with the inquiry said on Wednesday. The investigation now encompasses the possible involvement of other government officials in Mr. Trump's attempts to obstruct the certification of President Biden's Electoral College victory and the push by some Trump allies to promote slates of fake electors, they said." This is sort of a follow-up to the WashPo scoop linked below. MB: The report seems to indicate -- IMO -- that DOJ is still nibbling around the edges, going after "organizers and prominent participants in the rally on the Ellipse, and potential criminality in the promotion of pro-Trump slates of electors to replace slates named by states won by Mr. Biden." (Also linked yesterday.) See also Akhilleus' commentary in yesterday's thread.
About Those Phone Logs -- a Plausible Explanation (But Not an Excuse). Zachary Cohen, et al., of CNN: "The mystery of the seven-hour [White House telephone call log] gap has fueled furious speculation as to why calls are missing. According to multiple sources familiar with Trump's phone behavior and the White House switchboard records, the January 6 log reflects Trump's typical phone habits. He mainly placed calls through the switchboard when he was in the residence but rarely used it when he was in the Oval Office. The fact the log does not show calls on January 6, 2021, from the Oval Office is not unusual, said the sources, because Trump typically had staff either place calls directly for him on landlines or cell phones. Those calls would not be noted on the switchboard log. The six pages of White House switchboard logs for January 6, 2021, are completely based on an official review of White House records, according to a source familiar with the matter. There are no missing pages...." ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan & Alayna Treene of Axios: "On Jan. 6, 2021, during an apparent seven-hour gap in White House call logs that the House select committee investigating the attack is now trying to piece together, then-President Trump's executive assistant, Molly Michael, was absent for most of the day, three sources with direct knowledge tell Axios.... Though sources said the Trump White House's already spotty record-keeping operation had virtually collapsed by the final weeks of his presidency, Michael's absence is a previously unreported detail that may play a role in explaining the incomplete records for a key stretch of time."
I've heard people say from time to time, 'Well, it's a personal decision of a judge as to whether he should recuse himself.' Well, if your wife is an admitted and proud contributor to a coup of our country, maybe you should weigh that in your ethical standards. -- Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Thursday ~~~
~~~ Felicia Sonmez & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday renewed her call for the Supreme Court to institute a code of ethics, citing the recent revelations that Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, pressed the Trump White House to try to overturn President Biden's 2020 victory.... Pelosi on Thursday declined to say whether Thomas should recuse himself or resign from the court, telling reporters, 'I don't think he should have ever been appointed, so, we could take it back to there.'... Pelosi noted that H.R. 1, the For the People Act, includes language calling for the establishment of a judicial code of ethics. The measure passed the House this month in a largely party-line vote, but its chances are dim in the Senate."
Dareh Gregorian & Kyle Stewart of NBC News: "The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol interviewed its first Trump family member and the highest-ranking official from the previous administration by meeting with Jared Kushner on Thursday for more than six hours, a source inside the room told NBC News. The panel met virtually with Kushner -- Donald Trump's son-in-law and a former top White House adviser -- after he voluntarily agreed to speak with the committee.... The source described Kushner as being cooperative and friendly, adding that he did the talking, as opposed to having his lawyers speak for him. The committee did not immediately comment on Kushner's appearance." MB: But I promise you his appearance was excellent: he was clean-shaven, wore a nice suit & tie, and his smile was ever-so winning.
News Flash! Donald Trump Is a Cheap, Mean, Greedy SOB. Eric Lipton & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "As ... Donald J. Trump's tenure came to an end, the chief White House photographer [Shealah Craighead], who had traveled the world with him and spent countless hours inside the White House snapping pictures, notified Mr. Trump's aides that she intended to publish a book collecting some of her most memorable images. This was hardly a radical idea: Official photographers from every White House since President Ronald Reagan's have published their own books. Barack Obama and George W. Bush were so supportive that they wrote forewords for them.... [BUT] aides to Mr. Trump asked her for a cut of her book advance payment, in exchange for his writing a foreword and helping promote the book, according to former associates of Mr. Trump. Then Mr. Trump's team asked Ms. Craighead to hold off on her book project to allow the former president to take Ms. Craighea's photos and those of other White House staff photographers and publish his own book, which is now selling for as much as $230 a copy. That the profits from Ms. Craighead's labor are now going into Mr. Trump's pocket has left several of Mr. Trump's former aides upset -- but not exactly surprised."
California, Here They Come, Right Back Where They Started From. Ellie Silverman of the Washington Post: "The trucker group calling itself the 'People's Convoy,' which protested vaccine mandates and aired other right-wing grievances by driving around the D.C. region for more than three weeks, left its temporary base in Western Maryland on Thursday morning to head across the country to challenge proposed coronavirus vaccine and health-related bills in California. The protest failed to accomplish any of its stated demands and recently saw a dwindling number of participants, fractures among supporters, pushback from local residents and activists and road blockages by D.C. police."
Eeew! Michael Levenson of the New York Times: "The police said on Thursday that five fetuses had been removed from a home in Washington[, D.C.,] that, according to an anti-abortion group, belonged to an activist who was charged by the Justice Department this week with blocking access to an abortion clinic in October 2020. The Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia would release only the address where the fetuses were found. Terrisa Bukovinac, the founder and executive director of Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, confirmed that the home belonged to Lauren Handy, 28, the group's director of activism, who was arrested and charged with federal civil rights offenses this week.... The police said they had gone to the home ... to investigate a tip about 'potential biohazard material' when officers found the fetuses inside.... An investigation was continuing. No charges have been announced in connection with the discovery." A WUSA story is here.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
Amy Goldstein & Dan Keating of the Washington Post: "Pregnant people who are vaccinated against the coronavirus are nearly twice as likely to get covid-19 as those who are not pregnant, according to a new study that offers the broadest evidence to date of the odds of infections among vaccinated patients with different medical circumstances. The analysis, based on medical records of nearly 14 million U.S. patients since coronavirus immunization became available, found that pregnant people who are vaccinated have the greatest risk of developing covid among a dozen medical states, including being an organ transplant recipient and having cancer. The findings come on top of research showing that people who are pregnant or gave birth recently and became infected are especially prone to getting seriously ill from covid-19. And covid has been found to increase the risk of pregnancy complications, such as premature births." Free to nonsubscribers.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Thursday are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Arizona. Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona has signed legislation requiring voters to prove their citizenship in order to vote in a presidential election, swiftly drawing a legal challenge from voting rights activists who argued that it could keep tens of thousands of voters from casting a ballot. The Arizona measure, passed into law on Wednesday, also requires newly registered voters to provide a proof of address, which could have a disproportionate impact on students, older voters who no longer drive, low-income voters and Native Americans. Legal experts said the new rules might run afoul of both federal law and recent Supreme Court decisions. On Wednesday, Mi Familia Vota, a voting rights group, filed a federal lawsuit challenging the law."
Florida. "A Horrendous History of Racial Discrimination in Voting." Gary Fineout of Politico: "A federal judge on Thursday struck down key provisions of a 2021 Florida election law championed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and, in a remarkable move, ruled the state must get court approval for the next 10 years before it enacts further changes in three areas. Chief U.S. District Judge Mark Walker, in a blistering 288-page decision, said the law placed restrictions on voters that were unconstitutional and discriminated against minority citizens. Those included limits on drop boxes used for mail-in voting, on giving items to voters waiting in line and new requirements placed on voter registration groups.... Walker, who was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama, framed Florida's law as another in a long line of changes that were aimed at Democrats but wound up placing an illegal burden on minorities.... '... this court finds that, in the past 20 years, Florida has repeatedly sought to make voting tougher for Black voters because of their propensity to favor Democratic candidates. In summation, Florida has a horrendous history of racial discrimination in voting.'" Thanks to Ken W. for the link. ~~~
~~~ Reid Epstein, et al., of the New York Times: "The sharply worded 288-page order, issued by Judge Mark E. Walker of the Federal District Court in Tallahassee, was the first time a federal court had struck down major elements of the wave of voting laws enacted by Republicans since the 2020 election.... Judge Walker's decision is certain to be appealed and is likely to be overturned either by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, which tends to lean conservative, or the Supreme Court, which has sharply limited the federal government's power to intervene in state election law."
New York. Nicholas Fandos of the New York Times: "A New York State judge ruled on Thursday that Democrats had unconstitutionally drawn new congressional districts for partisan advantage, and he blocked their use in this year's election, potentially throwing the midterm contests into turmoil. In a sweeping ruling, Justice Patrick F. McAllister of State Supreme Court concluded that Democrats who control Albany had drawn the congressional lines for partisan advantage, violating a new constitutional prohibition on partisan gerrymandering adopted by New York voters. Justice McAllister, a Republican in rural Steuben County, accused Democrats of embracing tactics they have denounced Republicans for using in order to create a map that gave them an advantage in 22 of 26 New York seats. He called such gerrymandering a 'scourge' on democracy.... The judge also tossed out fresh State Senate and Assembly districts that he said were the product of an irrevocably tainted mapmaking process." Democrats will appeal.
Way Beyond
Ireland. Ed O'Loughlin of the New York Times: "Ireland's last surviving 'Magdalene laundry,' where thousands of unmarried mothers and other unwanted women were forced to work without pay in abject conditions, often until they died, is to be preserved as a state-funded memorial to all victims of incarceration and abuse in church and state-run institutions, the Irish government has announced. The government's move on Tuesday overturned a previous decision by Dublin City Council, the owner of the former convent and laundry, which closed down in 1996, to sell the site for redevelopment as a budget hotel. Operated most recently by the Sisters of Charity and Refuge, an order of Roman Catholic nuns, the high-walled compound in Dublin's deprived north inner city was the last 'Magdalene laundry' to close down, and is the only one that has not been demolished." MB: A budget hotel??? Who wouldn't enjoy sleeping in a room where young women were effectively incarcerated, enslaved & tortured? But, hey, at a reasonable price!
News Ledes
CNBC: "Amid soaring inflation and worries about a looming recession, the U.S. economy added slightly fewer jobs than expected in March as the labor market grew increasingly tighter. Nonfarm payrolls expanded by 431,000 for the month, while the unemployment rate was 3.6%, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for 490,000 on payrolls and 3.7% for the jobless level." ~~~
~~~ Same data, rosier take: ~~~
~~~ New York Times: "A continued torrent of consumer demand, paired with an emerging atmosphere of normalcy as coronavirus caseloads and health restrictions fade away, led to a burst of new jobs last month, giving reason for optimism despite the year's increasingly uncertain economic outlook. U.S. employers added 431,000 jobs in March on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Labor Department said Friday. The figure was just shy of forecasts, and there was an upward revision of 95,000 for the previous two months of this year. The unemployment rate was 3.6 percent, down from 3.8 percent a month earlier and just a touch higher than its levels right before the pandemic." From an NYT liveblog.
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Reader Comments (13)
So, no Republican coke fueled orgies?
Apparently, little Maddy, in very short order, has become a cawthorn in the side of R traitors (and that’s all of them), and when called down to Principal McCarthy’s office admitted to fibbing about all the orgying going on. Oh, he also said he has no idea even what cocaine is.
The first part (him lying about the orgies) is believable because my brain could not handle imagined images of Mitch McConnell in the altogether popping Viagra out of a priapic Pez dispenser as he raced around the room with a coke straw stuck up his nose.
The second part (he has no idea what cocaine is), not so much. The guy claimed to have seen people doing “key bumps” which, as others have pointed out is not a term that would be familiar to someone who knew nothing about Colombian marching powder. It would be like someone talking about a duplex rabbet plane then claiming he never heard of woodworking.
So, either way, a fucking liar.
https://theweek.com/kevin-mccarthy/1011985/kevin-mccarthy-says-cawthorn-lied-about-dc-orgies-others-doubt-claim-he
Years ago I saw the film "The Magdalene Sisters" which is a searing look into this laundry of horrors. When finally investigated many dozens (maybe hundreds) of dead infants were discovered buried in the back of this place. The nuns depicted in this film were all complicit in this charade otherwise known as evil maneuvers all in the name of Christian love.
"What a terrifying moment, in which the wife of a serving Supreme Court justice unabashedly exploits her insider access, ignores the idea of checks and balances, promotes conspiracy theories and essentially endorses insurrection. Her conduct isn’t some passing curiosity. It’s a sign of the times. And it’s a warning to us all." Frank Bruni
I am still trying to wrap my head around the fact that this woman has been vomiting her phony baloney for years and we now have finally paid attention?
Bruni starts out his column by saying can we please get over the Rock/Smith business and concentrate on more important issues. Well, Frank, for some that slap in the face was a big deal and no matter that we have problems up the ying yang like a raging war, Will and Chris take center stage. It's part of what "all the news that's fit to print" is all about. And in this day and age we are overwhelmed by it. Once upon a time we had Walter Cronkite––"those were the days" and Archie and Edith hit a high note on the network of entertainment. It was a beginning.
The Greenhouse column linked above is very perceptive, noting that the R senators used the Brown hearings entirely for political smear purposes, not at all for considering Brown's qualifications.
There is a little vignette in there, about Gorsuch, and how before he was a judge he privately implied that the GOP should leverage the fact that several big law firms (mostly associated with liberals) had represented Gitmo defendants, i.e. "supported terrorists." The idea seems to have been that such work did not further the rights and freedoms of Americans, but only advantaged terrorists, so by inference those firms are hurting Americans. So, "libs love terrs."
Ol' Neil (Neal? Kneel? Nell? whatever) is so effing stupid he can't see that if a Gitmo defendant can't get effective counsel ANY prosecution would be tossed out by ANY judge. So the firms taking the Gitmo cases are doing the prosecution a service by making a potential conviction at all possible.
Which the CIA had already blown anyway, because none of the evidence is admissible because of torture. But that does not relieve Gorsuch of being stupid.
PD,
There are plenty of R’s who are more than deserving of the title “stupid” but I don’t think Gorsuch is one. What he is is a political hack. I’m sure he understands the need for any defendant to have representation but two things explain his position. First, he sees this as a chance to paint his enemies as terrorist loving liberal pansies. It’s purely a political hack, nothing more. A chance to show that his side is for mom, apple pie, the flag, and John Wayne. The other side is for murdering children and flying planes into American skyscrapers.
Second, he doesn’t give a shit about Gitmo detainees. They will never get anything resembling a fair trial and will likely die in their cells without anything like due process. Concerns about due process, fair trials, and even nominal representation are only for those who care about the Constitution. That leaves out everyone in the Party of Traitors. For guys like Gorsuch, Alito, Rape Boy Kavanaugh, Long Dong Thomas, Amy Phony Barrett, and even Little Johnny, to a large extent, the Constitution is a prop. Convenient when it bolsters their side winning, and something to get around when it doesn’t.
It’s all about scoring points and “winning”, however that is defined. Often, it’s defined by just screwing Democrats and liberals and successfully stomping on groups they hate.
So, I don’t think he’s stupid, but I also don’t believe he has the slightest interest in true justice. Not if it helps anyone but his side. Yeah, he may occasionally come out with a surprise ruling, but that’s just a strategy to keep from looking like Caveman Clarence, a rubber stamp hack. It’s like Susan (Concerned ™) Collins voting for Jackson. Now she can go back to ratfucking everything R’s don’t like.
Oops, I think I addressed that last one to PD. Sorry. I do think Gorsuch is an asshole, who else would demand that an employee die if his boss told him to? But I’m not sure he’s stupid. He’s a hack.
One can be mean, a hack, and stupid all at the same time. In such characteristics, Gorsuch contains multitudes. He does not need to contradict himself.
He is a box of rocks.
How bipartisan, only 90% of the House Republicans voted against making life saving insulin medicine affordable for the nearly 10% of Americans that need the drug to live.
AK: that's ok–--cuz I agree with you re: Gorsuch––such a nice looking man who presents as one who cares for his fellow man and can sound like someone who has studied the law in depth. Recall that his mother, the chain smoking political firebrand, raised him to new heights from which it's hard for him to get low-down in the actual reality of the real problems of real people.
About that 7 hour, 37 minute gap in phone records. Cawthorn was
right. Someone was trying to set a record for the longest orgy in
D.C. history.
Still waiting for the GOP to announce their real platform. Why are
they stalling? We all know what it will be:
War on: women
immigrants
LGBTQ
voting rights
civil rights
the poor
the environment
health care
just to name a few.
My impression is that Gorsuch thinks "Constitutional rights" are for only the "right" people. That definitely does not include suspected foreign A-rab terrorists. It's unclear how many of the rest of us qualify, in Gorsuch's mind, to get our due process.
It’s way past the time when Ginni Thomas, Cawthorn, MTG, Josh Hawley, Gym Jordan, Matt Gaetz, et al, might once have been considered fringe whack jobs. They are now the mainstream of the party. They represent the cesspool into which the Ted Cruzes, Tom Cottons, and Mitch McConnells dive to prove their love of conspiracy theories, lies, insurrection, and hatred to the mass of hardcore treason lovers heading to the polls.
The fringe of the Party of Traitors? There’s probably some future Timothy McVeighs out there, it looked like there were plenty of McVeigh wannabes at the Kill Democracy for Trump rally, but the party has become a seething, writhing thing, no brain to speak of, just a lump of cells doing automatic stuff, no heart, and no soul. All bile, bluster, and bullshit.
The modern GOP. Somewhere, Lincoln weeps.
In labor news:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/01/technology/amazon-union-staten-island.html?