April 26, 2022

Late Morning/Afternoon Update:

He's putting people in jeopardy. -- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), January 10, 2021, referring to Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.)

It's potentially illegal what he's doing. House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.), January 10, 2021, speaking of Gaetz ~~~

~~~ ** Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Representative Kevin McCarthy, the House Republican leader, feared in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack that several far-right members of Congress would incite violence against other lawmakers, identifying several by name as security risks in private conversations with party leaders. Mr. McCarthy talked to other congressional Republicans about wanting to rein in multiple hard-liners who were deeply involved in Donald J. Trump's efforts to contest the 2020 election and undermine the peaceful transfer of power.... But Mr. McCarthy did not follow through on the sterner steps that some Republicans encouraged him to take, opting instead to seek a political accommodation with the most extreme members of the G.O.P. in the interests of advancing his own career. Mr. McCarthy's remarks represent one of the starkest acknowledgments from a Republican leader that the party's rank-and-file lawmakers played a role in stoking violence on Jan. 6, 2021 -- and posed a threat in the days after the Capitol attack." Includes audio.

Victor Reklaitis of Market Watch: "Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive Tuesday for COVID-19 on rapid and PCR tests, said the VP's press secretary, Kirsten Allen, in a statement. Harris 'has exhibited no symptoms, will isolate and continue to work from the vice president's residence. She has not been a close contact to the president or first lady due to their respective recent travel schedules,' Allen added."

Unintended Consequences. Robert Burns of the AP: "The longer Ukraine's army fends off the invading Russians, the more it absorbs the advantages of Western weaponry and training -- exactly the transformation ... Vladimir Putin wanted to prevent by invading in the first place.The list of arms flowing to Ukraine is long and growing longer.... If Ukraine can hold off the Russians, its accumulating arsenal of Western weapons could have a transformative effect in a country that has, like other former Soviet republics, relied mainly on arms and equipment from the Soviet era.... U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin convened a meeting Tuesday at Germany's Ramstein air base to work out ways to keep it going, now and for the long run. Defense ministers and top military leaders from approximately 40 countries participated. After the meeting, Austin told a news conference ... the participating nations had agreed to continue similar consultations through monthly meetings, either in person or virtually. 'We've got to move at the speed of war,' Austin said."

Aamer Madhani of the AP: "President Joe Biden has granted the first three pardons of his term, providing clemency to a Kennedy-era Secret Service agent convicted of federal bribery charges that he tried to sell a copy of an agency file and to two people who were convicted on drug-related charges but went on to become pillars in their communities. The Democratic president also commuted the sentences of 75 others for nonviolent, drug-related convictions. The White House announced the clemencies Tuesday as it launched a series of job training and reentry programs for those in prison or recently released."

The Big Lie, from the Creation. Doug Clark, et al., of ProPublica: "ProPublica has obtained a trove of internal emails and other documentation that, taken together, tell the inside story of a group of people who propagated a number of the most pervasive theories about how the election was stolen, especially that voting machines were to blame, and helped move them from the far-right fringe to the center of the Republican Party. Those records, as well as interviews with key participants, show for the first time the extent to which leading advocates of the stolen-election theory touted evidence that they knew to be disproven or that had been credibly disputed or dismissed as dubious by operatives within their own camp. Some members of the coalition presented this mix of unreliable witnesses, unconfirmed rumor and suspect analyses as fact in published reports, talking points and court documents. In several cases, their assertions became the basis for Trump's claims that the election had been rigged." MB: Based on sworn testimony & a series of algorithms, I have proved that Trump shot J.R. on Fifth Avenue. Wackadoo, wackadoo, wackadoo.

Elon Is in for Some Big Surprises. Shira Ovide of the New York Times: "Like Facebook, YouTube and other internet companies, Twitter was forced to morph from hard-liner on free expression to speech nanny. Today, Twitter has pages upon pages of rules prohibiting content such as material that promotes child sexual exploitation, coordinated government propaganda, offers of counterfeit goods and tweets 'wishing for someone to fall victim to a serious accident.'... Soon, [Elon] Musk will be the one confronting the gap between an idealized view of free speech and the zillion tough decisions that must be made to let everyone have a say.... Mr. Musk is a relative dilettante on the topic [of free speech] and hasn't yet tackled the difficult trade-offs in which giving one person a voice may silence the expression of others, and in which an almost-anything-goes space for expression might be overrun with spam, nudity, propaganda from autocrats, the bullying of children and violent incitements.... New laws, including the Digital Services Act in the European Union, require Twitter and its peers to do more to scrub their sites of misinformation and abuse."

Paul Krugman of the New York Times on Florida Republicans' attack on Disney: "... what Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies ... are symptoms of the transformation of the G.O.P. from a normal political party into a radical movement built around conspiracy theories and intimidation.... Not long ago, using state power to impose financial penalties on corporations for expressing political views you dislike would have been considered beyond the pale. Indeed, it may well be unconstitutional.... The obvious role model here is Viktor Orban's Hungary.... I don't think political reporting has caught up with how thoroughly QAnonized the G.O.P. has become." See also Akhilleus' comments in today's thread.

~~~~~~~~~~

The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Top U.S. defense officials are set to meet with NATO allies in Germany on Tuesday to whip up more military support for Ukraine that could help make it harder for Russian forces to rebuild their military capabilities after significant losses. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III ... will try to convince dozens of military leaders on Tuesday that after two months of war, now is the time to expand support and make sure Russia is unable to quickly rebound.... Explosions shook Transnistria, a Russia-aligned breakaway region of Moldova that borders Ukraine and where hundreds of Russian troops are deployed. Ukrainian defense officials accused Russia of causing the explosions as a pretext to invade Ukraine from the west." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Tuesday are here: "... U.N. Secretary General António Guterres ... is meeting with [Vladimir] Putin in Moscow, will lobby for an immediate cease-fire. And Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who leads a NATO member country that has had relatively close relations with the Kremlin, said he hopes to steer Putin toward diplomacy during a call on Tuesday. Top U.S. officials who visited Kyiv on Monday praised Ukrainian resistance and expressed cautious optimism about the country's prospects.... In the eastern battleground, Russian troops are expected to surround Ukrainian forces in hopes of pummeling them in an epic, long-distance ground battle reminiscent of the last century. Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the war had entered a critical stage." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Tuesday are here. The Guardian's full report, by Helen Livingstone, is here: "Russia's foreign minister has accused Nato of fighting a proxy war by supplying military aid to Ukraine, as defence ministers gathered in Germany for US-hosted talks on supporting Ukraine through what one US general called a 'very critical' few weeks. Sergei Lavrov told Russian state media ... that the risks of nuclear conflict were now 'considerable'-- a claim Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, said showed Moscow had lost its 'last hope to scare the world off supporting Ukraine'."

David Sanger of the New York Times: "When Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III declared Monday at the end of a stealth visit to Ukraine that America's goal is to see Russia so 'weakened' that it would no longer have the power to invade a neighboring state, he was acknowledging a transformation of the conflict, from a battle over control of Ukraine to one that pits Washington more directly against Moscow.... As Russian war atrocities have become more evident, and Ukraine's need for heavy armor has increased, the lines have grown blurrier and the rhetoric sharper. At the same time, in word and deed, the United States has been gradually pushing in the direction of undercutting the Russian military.... The White House is working to demonstrate publicly that Russia is emerging from the war in a far weaker position, militarily and economically, than it was on Feb. 24." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: For those right-wing saboteurs who write new pieces every week about how Biden is senile and out-of-it, his -- and his administration's -- nimbleness in the face of war makes a mockery of wingers' warnings.

Lorenzo Tondo & Pjotr Sauer of the Guardian & Agencies: "Five railway stations in central and western Ukraine were hit by Russian airstrikes in the space of one hour on Monday, as the war grinds on relentlessly in the south and east of the country. Oleksander Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, said five train stations came under fire causing an unspecified number of casualties, as most of Ukraine was placed under an unusually long air raid warning for two hours on Monday morning." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: If you were trying to take over somebody else's country, it would make sense to blow up railway tracks that would be used to carry the country's defensive tools. It would make sense to strike a train that was carrying munitions. But it's just mass murder to strike train stations where civilians are waiting for trains. It's another war crime.

Luke Broadwater & Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "It has been clear for more than a year that ultraconservative members of Congress were deeply involved in attempts to keep Mr. Trump in power: They joined baseless lawsuits, spread the lie of widespread election fraud and were among the 147 Republicans who voted on Jan. 6, 2021, against certifying President Biden's victory in at least one state. But in a court filing and in text messages obtained by CNN, new pieces of evidence have emerged in recent days fleshing out the degree of their involvement with the Trump White House in strategy sessions.... Some continued to push to try to keep Mr. Trump in office even after a mob of his supporters attacked the complex."

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "When it comes to whether the proceedings of the Jan. 6 committee will lead to criminal charges, there are two vital questions. Can it be proved that those involved in plotting to overturn the 2020 election: 1. Knew that their actions were illegal, and ... 2. Pressed forward with a plan to interfere with Congress's actions that day?... On the first count, [Mark Meadows' aide Cassidy] Hutchinson confirmed that the White House Counsel's Office repeatedly told those plotting to overturn the election that their plan to use alternate slates of electors -- or go even further -- was not legally sound. Despite this, Meadows and others pressed forward with their attempts to overturn the election and with the Jan. 6 rally. On the second count ... Hutchinson said Meadows was directly warned about the prospect of violence that day. She said Anthony Ornato, a senior Secret Service agent and political adviser to the White House, discussed the subject with him in early January." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

No Love Lost. Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post: "Hours after a mob ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021..., Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell described himself as 'exhilarated' about the potential damage to ... Donald Trump. 'I feel exhilarated by the fact that this fellow finally, totally discredited himself,' McConnell told Jonathan Martin, one of the authors of a new book.... Trump, the Kentucky Republican said, 'was pretty thoroughly discredited by this.... He put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger.... Couldn't have happened at a better time.' 'What do you hear about the Twenty-Fifth Amendment?' he asked Martin, eager for intelligence about whether the Cabinet and vice president might remove Trump from office, according to the book. Then McConnell said, according to the book, that he had spoken to Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about issuing a joint statement telling Trump to stay away from the inauguration."

** Jamie Gangel, et al., of CNN: "CNN has obtained 2,319 text messages that ... Donald Trump's White House chief of staff Mark Meadows sent and received between Election Day 2020 and President Joe Biden's January 20, 2021 inauguration. The vast trove of texts offers the most revealing picture to date of how Trump's inner circle, supporters and Republican lawmakers worked behind the scenes to try to overturn the election results and then reacted to the violence that effort unleashed at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021. The logs, which Meadows selectively provided to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack, show how the former chief of staff was at the nexus of sprawling conspiracy theories baselessly claiming the election had been stolen. They also demonstrate how he played a key role in the attempts to stop Biden's certification on January 6." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~

     ~~~ If you have a lot of free time, you can read the text messages here, via CNN. ~~~

Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn't the way to solve anything. -- Marjorie Taylor Greene (GQP-Ga.), in a text sent January 6, 2021. @2:28 pm ET, begging Trump & Meadows to save her life

No reply from Trump or Meadows. Astounding. A report by an ally of "an active shooter" ready to mow down members of Congress, & crickets from the White House. -- Marie ~~~

~~~ What Margie Knew. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: During a hearing last Friday, Marjorie Taylor "Greene was asked whether she understood that there had been violence at the Capitol when news first emerged about the building having been breached.... 'I only knew what I was told,' she said. 'I'd heard -- I'd heard a gunshot. We all heard it. And we were so confused. We thought antifa was breaking in or [Black Lives Matter] because those were the riots that had gone on all throughout 2020, day in and day out, just horrible riots all over the country. That was the only thing that made sense to most of us.'... But in the first minutes of the riot, Greene's understanding was very different.... [Greene's 2:28 pm text to Meadows] would not be likely were the rioters supporters of Black Lives Matter or members of antifa.... IOW, if the perps were BLM or antifa, Margie would not have thought Trump would have any power to call them off. She knew they were Trump backers.

~~~ Margie Can't Recall Much about Martial Law, Including How to Spell It. Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) told then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in January 2021 that some members of Congress were calling for Donald Trump to impose martial law to remain president, according to text messages Meadows recently provided to the select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.... According to CNN, Greene raised the topic in a text to Meadows on Jan. 17, 2021.... 'In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law,' Greene texted Meadows, misspelling the word 'martial.' 'I don't know on those things. I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!'... Greene testified in a separate case that she could not recall whether she had advocated for martial law at the time." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeremy Barr of the Washington Post: "Fox News host Sean Hannity promised Donald Trump's chief of staff, Mark Meadows, that he would push an Election Day get-out-the-vote message to his radio show listeners, according to communications within a cache of more than 2,000 text messages obtained by CNN.... Meadows ... asked for Hannity's help with messaging, and offered him a slogan to convey to the host's millions of radio show listeners. 'Stress every vote matters,' Meadows wrote.... 'Get out and vote. On radio.' Hannity responded in the affirmative, writing back, 'Yes sir. On it,' before adding, 'any place in particular we need a push.' When Meadows suggested Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada, Hannity replied, 'Got it. Everywhere.'... The messages ... suggest that Hannity saw himself as part of the broader pro-Trump campaign apparatus on Election Day...."

Marie: Seldom, if ever, mentioned in stories about Mike Pence's role in the insurrection is that when he refused Trump's pleas to reject Biden electors, pence also was working against his own interests. Had pence refused to accept the Biden electors, he would have engineered a fake victory for Trump ... and for himself.

So Unfaaaair! Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "A New York judge on Monday held Donald J. Trump in contempt of court for failing to turn over documents to the state's attorney general, an extraordinary rebuke of the former president. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, ordered Mr. Trump to comply with a subpoena seeking records and assessed a fine of $10,000 per day until he satisfied the court's requirements. In essence, the judge concluded that Mr. Trump had failed to cooperate with the attorney general, Letitia James, and follow the court's orders.... One of Mr. Trump's lawyers ... said she intended to appeal the ruling." The AP's report is here. See also Bobby Lee's comment in today's thread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Miriam Jordan & Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "A federal judge on Monday said he would block the Biden administration from exempting migrants from expulsion under a Trump-era public health order until the policy is officially lifted next month. The federal government has announced plans to lift the order, known as Title 42, on May 23 -- a move that is expected to create a considerable surge of migration from Mexico. Several states have challenged the plan, saying it will create chaos on the border and lead to significant impacts on states forced to handle the newly arriving migrants. Judge Robert R. Summerhays of the United States District Court for the Western District of Louisiana did not yet rule on the issue of whether Title 42, adopted early in the coronavirus pandemic, should be kept in place. But he said he would in the meantime grant a request from the states of Missouri, Louisiana and Arizona to prevent the federal government from taking any early steps to disregard Title 42 for certain migrants and process them under normal immigration procedures."

Bianca Quintanlan & Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The Supreme Court appears poised to rule in favor of a high school football coach fired for his on-field prayers following games. But the justices left doubt Monday about whether they will issue a sweeping ruling backing the religious-freedom rights of school employees or a more narrow decision confined to the unusual facts of the case from Washington state. The religious liberty case argued at the high court Monday stems from a suit filed by Joseph Kennedy, a high school assistant football coach who was fired by Bremerton [Washington State] School District in 2015 after refusing to stop kneeling to pray audibly at the 50-yard after his team's games. While Kennedy and religious freedom advocates contend he was simply exercising his right to express his devotion to God, the school district maintains that his actions were coercive and that players' parents,complained that their children on the team felt compelled to participate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The New York Times story is here.

Joe Hernandez of NPR: "The National Labor Relations Board has sued the coffee shop chain Starbucks for allegedly retaliating against three employees who were involved in organizing a union. One worker was disciplined, suspended and discharged; another was 'constructively discharged' and a third was put on unpaid leave after the company revoked 'recently granted accommodations,' the NLRB said in a press release. Cornele Overstreet, director of the NLRB region based in Phoenix, asked the U.S. District Court in a filing on Friday to immediately reinstate the employees with their usual schedules and accommodations, among other requests." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

If I don't like the way a multi-billion-dollar corporation treats me, I might return the merchandise, I might boycott the company, I might lodge a complaint. Elon Musk took a different tack. -- Marie

The very rich ... are different from you and me. -- F. Scott Fitzgerald ~~~

~~~ ** Mike Isaac & Lauren Hirsch of the New York Times: "Elon Musk struck a deal on Monday to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion, in a victory by the world's richest man to take over the influential social network frequented by world leaders, celebrities and cultural trendsetters. Twitter agreed to sell itself to Mr. Musk for $54.20 a share, a 38 percent premium over the company's share price this month before he revealed he was the firm's single largest shareholder. It would be the biggest deal to take a company private -- something Mr. Musk has said he will do with Twitter -- in at least two decades, according to data compiled by Dealogic.... The billionaire, who has more than 83 million followers on Twitter and has romped across the service hurling gibes and memes, has repeatedly said he wants to 'transform' the platform by promoting more free speech and giving users more control over what they see on it. By taking the company private, Mr. Musk could work on the service out of sight of the prying eyes of investors, regulators and others." ~~~

     ~~~ Politico's report is here. CNBC's report is here. ~~~

~~~ Nikki Ramirez & Camden Carter of Media Matters: "Elon Musk's own Twitter use is the biggest sign he's unfit to steer the ship.... A review by Media Matters found that Musk's Twitter account is full of right-leaning content, including COVID-19 misinformation and anti-trans rhetoric, and interactions with numerous right-wing outlets, figures, and conspiracy theorists.... Musk's political allegiances are murky, but his Twitter feed is full of vaguely libertarian and right-leaning content making plain his dislike of anything he deems 'woke.'... Musk also interacts with numerous right-leaning accounts on Twitter, often amplifying their content to his 84 million followers.... Musk also interacts with right-wing political figures such as Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) ... and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.... Since early 2020, Musk has been posting about his skepticism of the severity of COVID-19, spreading harmful misinformation about debunked treatment methods, expressing his dislike of public health measures and vaccine restrictions, and going as far as to compare Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler, in a since-deleted tweet.... Musk has shown a significant lack of empathy for the experiences of Twitter users who are subjected to abuse and harassment. Musk's self-aggrandizing as a champion for free speech is also undercut by his extensive history of malpractice and abuse against his own employees for exercising their speech."

The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Monday are here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Arizona. Johnny Diaz of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration said on Monday that it was investigating a crash after a stunt that called for two pilots to parachute from nose-diving planes and swap cockpits in midair. No one was injured on Sunday in the stunt, which featured the pilots and skydivers Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington flying over the desert in Eloy, Ariz., about 50 miles northwest of Tucson. They had planned to send their single-engine Cessna 182 planes into tandem nosedives at 14,000 feet and then jump out midair to switch planes. One of the pilots landed safely by parachute as his plane spun out of control and crashed, the F.A.A. said in a statement. The other pilot regained control of his plane and landed safely."

Kansas. Michael Wines of the New York Times: "A state court in Kansas on Monday threw out a newly drawn map of congressional districts as an unconstitutional gerrymander, the latest in a series of similar rulings across the country. The 29th Judicial District Court said that Republicans in the State Legislature had created 'intentional and effective' partisan and racial gerrymanders when they divided the state's major Democratic strongholds among Republican-leaning House districts. Most notably, the Republican plan divided Kansas City along both racial and partisan lines and would have endangered the only one of the state's four House seats held by a Democrat. District Judge Bill Klapper barred the Legislature from holding elections under the plan and ordered the lawmakers to draw new maps that followed his ruling 'as expeditiously as possible.'... The ruling goes directly to the State Supreme Court for review. Four of that court's seven justices have been appointed by Democratic governors, suggesting a reasonable prospect that it will be upheld."

Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "The highest criminal court in Texas on Monday ordered a halt to the execution of a Hispanic mother of 14 convicted of killing her 2-year-old child more than a decade ago in a case that has drawn bipartisan outrage. The mother, Melissa Lucio, has long maintained her innocence, and calls for leniency have become widespread in Texas, including among dozens of Democratic and Republican state legislators, as new evidence and expert testimony emerged that cast strong doubt on her guilt. In a three-page decision ordering a stay to the execution that had been set for Wednesday, the Court of Criminal Appeals found that several of the claims raised by her lawyers needed to be considered by a trial court, including that prosecutors may have used false testimony, that previously unavailable scientific evidence could preclude her conviction and that prosecutors suppressed other evidence that would have been favorable to her." The Texas Tribune's report is here.

Comments

[Akhilleus]

Marshall Law? Did that idiot MTG mean the Marshall Plan? That project to restore economic stability in post-war Europe to aid in the re-establishment of democracy?

Oh, wait. That can’t be right. She hates democracy. Also the idea of helping anyone but herself and pro-fascist, far right-wing white traitors and nut jobs.

I guess for her, Marshall Law is when you deputize all the MAGA goons and send them out to shoot Democrats like Biden and Pelosi.

Yeah, that must be it.

By the way, if you do a search for martial law in the United States to find, for instance, a list of times and places it has been used (answer: 68 times, mostly in specific localities to prevent rioting, for example), you’ll be gobsmacked by the whacko crap floating around out there about its use. In every instance I saw, and there were many, right-wing gun nuts and insurrection fans are spreading the idea that martial law is used predominantly by the guv’mint to take all the guns.

Another moron sez guv’mints can’t take the guns cuz the Constitution, expressly the 2nd Amendment, is still in effect during martial law. Um…no. It’s not. That’s the whole fucking point, idiot. Civil rights CAN be suspended if necessary. Typically that hasn’t been the case. Most often martial law, in this country, has been called to allow troops to ensure curfews are established to prevent rioting and looting.

But never mind that. It’s all about THE GUNS. Another question bobbing about on the stinking winger brine is where’s the best place to hide when Obama/Biden/Pelosi come to confiscate your guns, imprison you and have you tortured.

The crazy quotient is through the roof on this subject. Maybe this was what MTG and Flynn and the other traitors had in mind when they were calling for martial law: arrest all their enemies and keep the Fat Fascist in power. Torture would come later.

[Marie Burns]

I keep reading or hearing stories about how the taxpayers of Orange & Osceola Counties are going to get stuck paying Disney's debt. Lawrence O'Donnell asserted on MSNBC Monday night that property taxpayers in those counties will see their bills rise by 25 percent.

But under Florida law, that's un-possible. A prominent feature of Florida tax law is the Save-Our-Homes provision. It limits the amount a jurisdiction can raise property taxes each year to three percent. That is, if the property taxes on your principal residence is $10,000 this year, it can only go up to a maximum of $10,300 next year. It cannot, by law, go up to $12,500, as O'Donnell asserted.

Now, that Save-Our-Homes limitation applies only to a Floridian's principal residence, and it applies only to Florida residents. So, snowbirds & landlords in Orange & Osceola can have their property tax raised by any amount. Will they have to take up the slack for the beneficiaries of Save-Our-Homes? Would their taxes go up, say, 50 percent? Or more?

The DeSantis strategy is to push new legislation & consider what it does later. Or don't consider the downsides of what you do at all. Just say your polices are anti-woke & move on.

[Akhilleus]

The Confederate Supreme Court siding with state sponsorship of religion? What else? Of course they will.

Oh, but not just any religion…

Had that coach pulled out a prayer rug and pointed himself toward Mecca, would Phony, Long Dong, Bart, Die for Your Masters Gorsuch, and Sammy the hit man give him a big thumbs up? He’d be lucky they didn’t get him an all expenses paid ticket to Gitmo.

This is classic for these guys. A little here, a little there, pretty soon we’re in a fascist theocracy. Next up, taxpayers must pay for families who want to send their kids to religious schools.

This is the end game for the Party of Traitors: control the courts and it doesn’t matter if you lose the odd election here and there, despite best efforts at election rigging. Can’t get it done legislatively? No biggie, the Supremes can be counted on to legislate from the bench.

[Akhilleus]

Whatever the outcome in Florida, DeSantis and his little Trumpy bigots in the legislature are doling out punishment for AN OPINION.

This is the epitome of a fascist state. Open your mouth to complain about our bigotry? How dare you!

It’s not like I’m weeping for Disney. Disney will be fine, and if they lose their special tax status, oh well, welcome to life like the rest of us. But let’s be clear. This is revenge, retribution against a corporation for daring to have an opinion. Time was, a Republican pol would bend over backwards for a corporation (they’re people too, my friend, right?). But in this post truth, demagogic age of treason, hatred, and whack job ideology, all that matters is fealty to the fascists.

And not for nothin’, but isn’t this the sort of Big Guv’mint move the wingers are always pearl clutching about? This ain’t exactly your small government, laissez faire, look the other way square dance.

[Bobby Lee]

Saw a cartoon this morning that pretty well sums up the GOP attitude to education. Two kids walking to school, one says: "I think school should be on a need to know basis, with a TMI buzzer on every desk."

[Ken Winkes]

Didn't understand it yesterday and still don't this morning.

Anent the requirement for criminal charges being knowledge that the Congressional insurrection plotters knew they were doing wrong:

Since when did ignorance of the law become an acceptable excuse?

Or does the law always apply different standards to the obviously impaired?

[Akhilleus]

BobbyLee,

Yeah, and the TMI button can also be used to send an electrical jolt to any teacher who says gay or black or slavery or white supremacy. Oh, unless they’re advocating for white supremacy. That’s okay.

[Akhilleus]

Mad Marge’s lies under oath about not being able to remember how she screamed for thugs to overthrow the guv’mint are hardly surprising. This sort of defense, the “I don’t ‘member a fuckin’ thing” is a favorite of criminals and members of the Trump family. But I repeat myself.

This is completely in line with the GQP’s sniveling cowardice in the face of inconvenient facts. In front of a mob of screeching droolers, they’re like Lenin outside the tsar’s residence. “Kill ‘em all! Revolution! Get the guns!” But under oath, it’s all “I dunno, can’t recall, don’t remember”.

Why the risible ruse?

Even mentally deficient dingbats like MTG (and that weasel of all weasels, Kevin McCarthy), realize that what they said and did and advocated could get them in a lot of trouble. So rather than stand up for what they truly believe (insurrection, eg), they run and hide.

There must be a better word than despicable, but I’m all thesaurused out by these monsters.

[Ken Winkes]

Have already proved once today I know nothing about the law but won't allow that to stop me from opining on that confused WA State football coach who liked to "grandstand" at midfield. And a Kennedy, no less. Probably didn't get vaccinated either...

Seems to me that his behavior should have been prohibited under WA law that permits an "open forum" use of school facilities, as long as application is made and other requirements (probably couldn't use a school facility to plot an insurrection; have to use the Captitol for that) are met.

But this clown did not have permission and he persisted even after being told he could not use the football field in that fashion. Aside from the obvious coercive element involved in his let us pray together exhortation to the team, he was employing one of a school''s more public places to advance his private agenda....

With this SCOTUS, however, I worry. When it comes to religion, their justice doesn't seem especially blind (to consequence). Its majority does seem inclined to hand get out of jail free cards to whomever has has the good fortune of speaking to (a white, Christian) god.

Might have told this one before, but the whole business of the confusion of god and sport has rankled for a long time.

One reason. In some areas private Christian schools have the deserved reputation of improving their athletic chances by recruiting, putting public schools at a relative disadvantage.

A public high school where I was working as an on-field timer was playing a football game with an overwhelmingly superior private Christian school. As the score mounted, I grew very tired of hearing the young Christian stalwarts shouting "let's get another touchdown for Christ!"

So tired in fact that when one of them fumbled the ball and it was recovered by the opposing team, I did not resist the childish impulse to ask him if he thought perhaps the devil had made him do it....

If the SCOTUS goes the way I fear, I might have to conclude the devil made them do it.

[Akhilleus]

Marie wrote “ Just say your polices are anti-woke & move on” in regards to Benito DeSantollini’s punishment of Disney for expressing a contrary opinion (contrary to bigotry).

The implication here is that DeSantis and fellow brownshirts are painting the Disney Corporation as “woke”.

Yow. We’re not talking here about some corporate version of the Industrial Workers of the World. This is fucking Disney, historically one of most conservative companies in America. It’s characters were used in propaganda cartoons during WWII. The opening of Euro Disney in the 90’s was branded cultural imperialism by many lefties. But now Mickey Mouse is a groomer?

Disney only began allowing employees to show tattoos and sport gender-neutral hairstyles in 2021. I had a musician friend who was fired from his job in one of those park bands because he was using substitute chords in some of the songs (7th chords are okay, but 9ths are right out!). He tried to get me to go with him for that summer, but I had found enough soul killing crap without inviting more.

The point here is that DeSantis and his horde of bigots are trying to paint Disney bosses, people who run a typically very conservative operation, as a combination of Margaret Sanger and Friedrich Engels. All because their thinking has moved ( slightly) beyond the 12th century.

But “woke” is the latest in a long line of knee jerk bumper sticker tropes employed to whip up the room temperature IQ’s and the garden variety bigots. So expect to see a lot more of this bullshit—woke ice cream, woke broom handles, woke ground cover, woke toilet paper, it doesn’t have to make sense—until the droolers find some new verbal brickbats (to go along with their actual brickbats).

[Forrest Morris]

I happened to catch a bit of an interview by a TV persona at the
latest trump fundraiser in Ohio. She was interviewing a group of
middle aged women who were all wearing sweatshirts with photos
of Jackie O., Princess Diana, and I can't recall who the third person
was, but anyway, the reporter naturally asked why the photos of the
deceased.
Well, it seems these people aren't deceased. They're in hiding, just
waiting for the right time to appear and save us all from the liberal
agenda. When asked how they know this, the answer was "we get
information from everything we hear and read, like Michael Jackson
songs, etc."
Lets see, Jackie O. would be about 93 years old. I don't think she
would be that interested in politics. Maybe finding another husband.
And Princess Diana? What does she think about the French election?
I need some of whatever these people are on (to help my arthritis).

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: In general, intent is a prerequisite to convicting someone of a crime. Some laws, however, are written without reference to intent, whether on purpose or because the bill's authors didn't know better. In that case, people with no intention to commit a crime can be convicted under them. Still, whatever the language of the statute, intent is implied if you stab someone with a knife. An ordinary person is supposed to know that violence against another person can cause great bodily harm or death. That is, you are supposed to know that you acted in a way that would violate laws against battery and murder.

On the other hand, most of us have broken laws without intending to. For instance, maybe if you live in upstate New York, you drive down to Manhattan & turn right on red when it is safe to do so. Oops, right-on-red is legal in most of New York state but not in New York City, but there's no signage saying so.

The issue of intent apparently is specified in the statutes the DOJ might bring against the instigators of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Theoretically, Trump & Co. could have had no idea an angry mob they sent down to the Capitol "to exercise First Amendment rights" would turn violent & storm the building & threaten to hang the veep. But evidence that's coming out now refutes that by pointing to instances where Trump & the Trumpies were warned by professionals that the situation could turn violent, and on the day of the insurrection that the barbarians had stormed the barricades & were roaming the building, one of them being rumored to be "an active shooter." And yet, and yet, the White House did nothing.

So when they let all this happen, with foreknowledge of the possible consequences, then -- by implication -- they had intent to instigate a crime or crimes.

Meanwhile, if you get arrested for committing a minor crime you didn't realize was a crime, have your lawyer check the statute or ordinance. If it requires intent, a good lawyer should be able to get you off. Good luck out there.

[Marie Burns]

@Forrest Morris: And those ladies can and do vote.

Maybe they'll vote twice, once for themselves and once for Jackie O. or some other person, commonly thought to be dead, who's unable to vote through no fault of her own.

[Akhilleus]

Ken,

On my high school football team (Catholic school) we would routinely pray to God and the Virgin Mary to protect us from serious injury (yeah, that never worked), to win the game (worked sometimes), and to kick the living shit out of the other team (also sometimes, but occasionally the other team must have gotten their petition in ahead of us).

I used to think, as I put my helmet on to head out onto the field, that those oft-importuned celestial beings must have gotten pretty fucking tired of all these prayers for a combination of protection for us and ass whipping for the other guys. “Christ! This shit again? What happened to prayers about turning red lights green? Or getting BINGO before any of the other Sodality ladies? Those make sense.”

[Akhilleus]

Forrest,

That “whatever they’re on” stuff might not help your arthritis, but it should be a reasonable substitute for three or four bottles of wine. Morning headache included.

[Ken Winkes]

Sorry.

Meant to say when it comes to consequence their justice does seem especially blind.

"Does," not "doesn't."

No good excuse. Maybe the devil made me do it.

[Forrest Morris]

What's with those French people anyway? The person who got the
most votes in the election won?
And the loser accepted the results and thanked the voters?
Don't they have a vice president they could ask to do something
slightly illegal?
Waiting for Arizona to request a recount. Someone should question
those voting machines also.

[Ken Winkes]

Enough to make one yearn for the good old days of the Hundred Years War.

Wish Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov were just rattling sabers...

[Patrick]

The story about the interview of ladies wearing not-dead icons' jerseys immediately conjured a vision of a Monty Python sketch, with Eric Idle and Michael Palin & Co. wearing ladies' wigs and frumpy housedresses and talking in high-pitched voices saying inane things in a sincere tone Midlands accent.

Back then you could tell a comedy sketch when you saw one. Now, it is much, much more difficult.

[Bobby Lee]

Two signs of the decline of our legal system on display: First is the practice of court shopping to find a district favorable to your suit. The second is counting judges by which president appointed them. It seems "blind justice" done clipped a hole in that blindfold.

[RAS]

“Elon’s in for a world of pain”
So says, a former social media executive"
An inside view of what Elon is going to have to deal with as he tries to create his utopia of free speech.

[Akhilleus]

Re: Elon Musk.

Like too many rich people (Fatty, eg), Musk believes his money makes him smart. Smarter than everyone else. That success in certain areas translates to success in anything you want to try your hand at. Just because you’re a user and a critic doesn’t mean you can be a doer. Watching movies and writing a film blog doesn’t mean you can make “Citizen Kane”. Just think of all the stuff Trump has tried, believing that money and position inherited from daddy made him a genius (stable or otherwise), stuff he failed at miserably.

I don’t believe Musk is as stupid as Trump, but that level of narcissism can create blind spots. Maybe he’ll be fine, but from the crap he’s been spouting, it doesn’t seem like he’s thought through things clearly. But hey, he’s a genius, and incredibly wealthy. No one knows more than he does, about anything.

What could go wrong?

[RAS]

@Forrest Morris: I believe the third woman is Melanie. Here are a few videos from the rally, the first video is the one you mentioned.

[Marie Burns]

@RAS: Oh noes! You're right about Melanie, which means she must be as "alive" as Princess Diana & Jackie O. I hope this doesn't mean Donald shot Melanie on Worth Avenue. I'll have to change my algorithms.

[Ken Winkes]

Riddle:

If free speech is the bedrock of democracy (ala Musk) and (his) money is speech, then what happens to that sacred bedrock?

If you don't know the answer, just ask the Supremes....They've already answered the question...