;)
Tuesday
Apr252023
April 26, 2023
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Tony Romm, et al., of the Washington Post: "The House is set to begin debate Wednesday on a Republican bill to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, slash federal spending and repeal some of President Biden's top legislative accomplishments, after Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) embarked on a last-minute scramble to win over a handful of holdouts in his ranks. With a final vote expected as soon as this afternoon, top GOP lawmakers have expressed a measure of confidence about their legislative prospects even as they acknowledge they have little room for error, since their slim majority -- and persistent ideological schisms -- could easily frustrate their plans." ~~~
~~~ ** Update. New Lede: "House Republicans on Wednesday approved a bill that would raise the debt ceiling, slash federal spending and repeal President Biden's programs to combat climate change and reduce student debt, defying Democratic objections in a move that inched the United States closer to a fiscal crisis."~~~
~~~ Marie: It's remarkable that Kevin had so much trouble herding the feral cats. This bill is less a real bill with viable provisions than it is a nasty gang's wish list of how badly they could bully all the town's widows & orphans. Stuff like this: ~~~
~~~ Leah Douglas of Reuters: "Nearly one million Americans could find it harder to access federal food aid under a Republican proposal to expand the program's work requirements, according to the Biden administration, which has promised to veto the plan if it passes Congress." ~~~
~~~ Karen Dolan in a Hill opinion piece: "According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, McCarthy's 'Limit, Save, Grow Act' demands the following as ransom for the full faith and credit of the United States: Leaving many more veterans, families and elderly people homeless, hungry and unable to access health care or college. Eliminating tens of thousands of teachers and hundreds of thousands of Head Start and child care slots. Increasing interest on credit cards, car payments and mortgages, while preventing any student loan relief. Scaling back tax incentives for green energy and making it easier for oil and gas companies to pollute. Making it easier for rich folks to cheat on their taxes."
The New York Times is liveblogging E. Jean Carroll's civil lawsuit against Donald Trump: "The writer E. Jean Carroll took the witness stand Wednesday to describe an evening nearly 30 years ago when she says ... Donald J. Trump raped her in a Manhattan department store dressing room.... Ms. Carroll's lawyers are asking the jury in Federal District Court to find Mr. Trump liable for battery and defamation, and if he is found responsible, to award monetary damages.... Mr. Trump, 76, has accused Ms. Carroll of lying and has attacked her repeatedly in public statements and on social media, both while in office and after leaving.... The judge presiding over the trial, Lewis A. Kaplan, sharply criticized Donald J. Trump for comments he made on social media just before the trial resumed on Wednesday morning. Mr. Trump posted twice, calling the lawsuit a scam and Ms. Carroll's lawyer a 'political operative.' Judge Kaplan said Mr. Trump's out-of-court statements seemed 'entirely inappropriate' and suggested Mr. Trump might be trying to influence members of the jury."
David Sirota, et al., of the Lever: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas voted to end federal tenant protections that his billionaire benefactor's company says threatened its real estate profit margins, according to corporate documents reviewed by The Lever. Thomas did not disclose his relationship with real estate billionaire Harlan Crow, nor did he recuse himself from the 2021 case, despite its potential impact on Crow Holdings. Now, rent control -- which Crow Holdings' documents also say threatens the company's business -- could come before Thomas, and there is no indication he would recuse himself if it does.... In August 2021, Thomas was one of the six justices who voted to strike down a federal administrative moratorium on evictions..., [part of the CDC's COVID-19 protocols]. In June, Thomas was one of four justices who voted to end the moratorium -- but the majority voted to leave it in place because it was set to expire the following month. In July, between the two rulings, Crow Holdings -- which owns apartment buildings, student housing, and manufactured housing nationwide -- was cited in congressional testimony for being one of the country's most frequent eviction filers, despite the moratorium." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Sirota occasionally can be an unreasonable leftie, IMO, but it appears he's on solid ground in his reporting here.
We Are Not Amused. David McCabe & Kellen Browning of the New York Times: "British antitrust regulators on Wednesday dealt a major setback to Microsoft's plans to acquire the video game giant Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, blocking the proposed deal and handing a notable win to government enforcers around the world who want to rein in Big Tech. In deciding that Microsoft's proposals to ensure the acquisition did not harm competition 'failed to effectively address the concerns in the cloud gaming sector,' a nascent part of the gaming industry, the Competition and Markets Authority inflicted a possibly fatal blow to what would be the largest consumer tech acquisition since AOL bought Time Warner two decades ago."
Florida. Eric Bradner & Steve Cortorno of CNN: "Walt Disney Parks and Resorts on Wednesday sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his hand-picked oversight board, accusing the Republican 2024 presidential prospect of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its free speech rights. The lawsuit was filed in federal court minutes after the board appointed by DeSantis to oversee Disney's special taxing district sought to claw back its power from the entertainment giant, voting to invalidate an agreement struck between Disney and the previous board in February, just before that board's dissolution." The New York Times story is here. Thanks to Bobby Lee for the heads-up. ~~~
~~~ AND it looks like DeSantolini is about to get his very own personal army, one where he would be commander-in-chief. What could possibly be wrong with that? Thanks to a friend for the link.
Marie: This ad -- which is apparently the first of President Biden's 2024 campaign -- starts out all apple-pie positive, but I'm happy to say it doesn't take long to move into whacking right-wing extremists, including implicitly Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, mike pence & the majority of elected Republicans:
~~~~~~~~~~
Presidential Race 2024. Zeke Miller of the AP: "President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced that he is running for reelection in 2024, asking voters to give him more time to 'finish this job' and extend the run of America's oldest president for another four years.... In his first public appearance Tuesday since the announcement, Biden offered a preview of how he plans to navigate the dual roles of president and presidential candidate, using a speech to building trades union members to highlight his accomplishments and undercut his GOP rivals, while showing voters he remained focused on his day job." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' snark team came out Tuesday afternoon to liveblog President Biden's speech. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Steve Peoples of the AP: "Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said Tuesday that he would forgo another presidential bid of his own and instead endorse President Joe Biden's reelection.... '... I'm in to do what I can to make sure that the president is reelected.'" ~~~
~~~ Isaac Stanley-Becker & John Wagner of the Washington Post: The Republican National Committee response video was 100 percent fake. The video was made up of sounds & "images that the RNC said were AI-generated..., along with fake reports by what sound like news reporters."
Devlin Barrett of the Washington Post: "Daniel Ellsberg, the person responsible for perhaps the biggest leak in U.S. government history -- the Pentagon Papers -- said the latest disclosures of classified information show that the world still faces some of the same dangers that spurred him to act more than 50 years ago. Ellsberg, who is 92 and dying of pancreatic cancer, said he is struck by the similarities between the Vietnam War and the current war in Ukraine -- two conflicts in which a superpower, he argued, could be tempted to use nuclear weapons." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: Back in my callow youth, I never thought I'd have occasion to say, "Let's see how the rape case against the president* is going." But language is nimble & Donald Trump has given us the opportunity to form a string of words we never thought would go together. So, let's see: ~~~
~~~ Benjamin Weiser, et al., of the New York Times: "A lawyer for the writer E. Jean Carroll told a Manhattan jury on Tuesday that former President Donald J. Trump viciously raped her client one evening nearly 30 years ago in a department store dressing room, an assault that she said Ms. Carroll, filled with fear and shame, long had kept secret.... [Mr. Trump's] lawyer, [Joe] Tacopina, told the jury on Tuesday that Ms. Carroll was 'advancing a false claim of rape for money, for political reasons and for status.'" MB: That's right. because nothing that conveys status like rape. Unless, of course, Joe's idea is that a person who is raped in Bergdorf's garners maximum admiration & envy. ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's report is here.
DA: "Trump Needs a Babysitter." Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "The Manhattan district attorney's office on Tuesday sought to limit Donald J. Trump's access to certain material from his criminal case, urging a judge to bar him from reviewing the material without his lawyers present. The request, filed with the court on Tuesday, also seeks to prohibit Mr. Trump from publicizing the prosecution's evidence on social media or through other channels.... In her request to the judge, [ADA Catherine] McCaw cited Mr. Trump's well-known propensity to use social media and public appearances to attack those investigating him. She noted that he had already begun to do so, slinging invective at those involved in the Manhattan case, including [Alvin] Bragg, [Michael] Cohen, [Stormy] Daniels and Justice [Juan] Merchan himself. That pattern of attacks, she wrote, is particularly concerning given that Mr. Trump faces a separate federal investigation into his handling of sensitive documents. The fact that Mr. Trump 'is currently under federal investigation for his handling of classified materials, gives rise to significant concern that defendant will similarly misuse grand jury and other sensitive materials here,' Ms. McCaw wrote."
Man with a Plan. Jacqueline Alemany & Sarah Ellison of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz advocated the creation of a congressionally appointed electoral commission ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to make a credible assessment of unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, according to a recording made by Abby Grossberg, a former producer at Fox News. The Jan. 2, 2021, recording, provided to The Washington Post by Grossberg's attorney, largely mirrors previous reports and public statements made by Cruz about efforts to overturn the election results. But the tape featuring a previously private conversation among Cruz, Grossberg and Fox Business host Maria Bartiromo on the push to deny the certification of Joe Biden's victory on Jan. 6, 2021, sheds new light on the scope of Cruz's scheming to assist Donald Trump in overturning Biden's victory.... 'Is there any chance you can overturn this [election]?' Bartiromo asked Cruz. 'I hope so,' he responded."
Devin Nunes' Cow Loses a Big Case. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has thrown out libel suits former Rep. Devin Nunes and his relatives filed over a 2018 Esquire article alleging that a dairy farm owned by Nunes' family members hired undocumented workers. U.S. District Court Judge C.J. Williams ruled Tuesday that the claims at issue in writer Ryan Lizza's story -- 'Devin Nunes's Family Farm is Hiding a Politically Explosive Secret' -- were essentially accurate. The judge said that conclusion was fatal to the suits brought by Nunes, his relatives and the company used to operate the dairy, NuStar Farms.... In the 101-page opinion issued Tuesday, Williams [-- a Trump appointee --] said evidence developed during the litigation showed that the farm employed numerous workers who provided names and Social Security numbers that did not match Social Security Administration records." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Here's how it works, Devin. If a sleazy politician is doing something illegal, the press have a First-Amendment right -- some may say a duty -- to write about it and the print it all up in their publications. Put another way, Dev, it ain't libel if it's true.
Power Corrupts. Absolute Power ... Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told the Senate Judiciary Committee in a letter released Tuesday evening that he was declining its invitation to testify about ethics rules for the Supreme Court. In an accompanying statement on ethics practices, all nine justices, under mounting pressure for more stringent reporting requirements at the court, insisted that the existing rules around gifts, travel and other financial disclosures are sufficient.... In the letter, Chief Justice Roberts attached a 'statement of ethics principles and practices' signed by the current justices...." CNN's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: If we had a Congress with any gumption and respect for itself and its Constitutional duties, it would start by impeaching and convicting John Roberts, then go on by yelling, "Next!" As it is, we have one branch of government that is dysfunctional to the point of being nearly powerless and another branch in which the majority -- and perhaps the entirety -- is corrupt. This is a good day to say, "Thank you, Joe Biden." In the meantime, somebody should rethink Marbury v. Madison. Surely there is a better way. ~~~
~~~ AND on the Eighth Day, the Fathers Created the Supremes. And the Fathers Saw That They Were Good Enough. Ian Millhiser of Vox: "... the nine most powerful officials in the United States of America -- men and women with the power to repeal or rewrite any law, who serve for life, and who will never have to stand for election and justify their actions before the voters -- may also be the least constrained officials in the federal government. And much of the blame for this state of affairs rests with the Constitution itself.... [In 2011, after news of some of Harlan Crow's gifts to Clarence Thomas made headlines,] Chief Justice Roberts used his annual Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary to defiantly rebut calls to apply additional ethical rules to the justices.... Roberts strongly implied that any attempt by Congress to ethically constrain the justices would be unconstitutional. The fact that the Code of Conduct applies exclusively to lower court judges, Roberts claimed, 'reflects a fundamental difference between the Supreme Court and the other federal courts." Millhiser refreshes our memories on Justice Scalia's infamous reasoning/excuse for why he could never recuse himself from hearing cases involving his pals.
Steve LeBlanc of the AP: "Former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern..., will be temporarily joining Harvard University later this year, Kennedy School Dean Douglas Elmendorf said Tuesday. Ardern, a global icon of the left and an inspiration to women around the world, has been appointed to dual fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School. She will serve as the 2023 Angelopoulos Global Public Leaders Fellow and a Hauser Leader in the school's Center for Public Leadership beginning this fall." MB: It will be fun when the New Zealand accent meets an upper-crusty Boston accent.
Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha.
Tuck & Don Lawyer Up. Ron Dicker of the Huffington Post: "Ousted Fox News host Tucker Carlson and CNN anchor Don Lemon ... reportedly just hired the same lawyer to navigate their departures. Multiple outlets say Los Angeles attorney Bryan Freedman is representing both.... The 'famously aggressive litigator' continues to represent Chris Cuomo in his wrongful termination suit against CNN, The Daily Beast noted." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. MB: Both articles use the same phrase, "... to navigate their departures (exits)" Uh, Tuck & Don got their cardboard boxes stuffed with fake awards & certificates and a company coffee mug, and they're out. No sextants needed. Thanks to Akhilleus for the heads-up. ~~~
~~~ Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post on how CNN & Fox "News" did the on-air honors of announcing the not-so-dearly-departed had unwillingly departed. (Also linked yesterday.)
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Fox News has a so-called 'oppo file' on Tucker Carlson that it is willing to weaponize against him if he takes shots at his old network, Rolling Stone reported on Tuesday. The network vehemently denies the report." MB: Evidently TuKKKer is even worse than the public knows.
Ted Johnson of Deadline: "Nate Silver is departing ABC News as the news division continues a round of layoffs that began last month. The FiveThirtyEight founder wrote on Twitter: 'Disney layoffs have substantially impacted FiveThirtyEight. I am sad and disappointed to a degree that's kind of hard to express right now. We've been at Disney almost 10 years. My contract is up soon, and I expect that I'll be leaving at the end of it...."
Peter Keepnews of the New York Times: "Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a major force in the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96." (Also linked yesterday.)
Beyond the Beltway
Montana. Republicans Take Their Marbles & Go Home. Jim Robbins & Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "Disputing criticism that they had silenced Montana's only transgender lawmaker, Republican leaders abruptly canceled a session of the House of Representatives on Tuesday, a day after heated protests led to arrests in the House chamber. In a brief news conference, Speaker Matt Regier blamed the lawmaker, Representative Zooey Zephyr, for the standoff, saying that she was not following House rules. 'The only person who is silencing Representative Zephyr is Representative Zephyr,' he said."
Oklahoma. Selena Simmons-Duffin of NPR: "Oklahoma has three overlapping abortion bans, with different and sometimes contradictory definitions and exceptions. A study published Tuesday along with a commentary in the Lancet medical journal shows hospitals all over Oklahoma are struggling to interpret the laws and create policies that comply with the state's abortion bans. The resulting confusion is having dangerous consequences.... [According to Jaci Statton, a woman who was suffering a cancerous molar pregnancy that would not develop into a baby, hospital staff told her,] 'The best we can tell you to do is sit in the parking lot, and if anything else happens, we will be ready to help you. But we cannot touch you unless you are crashing in front of us or your blood pressure goes so high that you are fixing to have a heart attack.'"
Washington State. Mike Baker & Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs of the New York Times: "Washington State approved a package of gun control measures on Tuesday that includes a ban on the sale of military-style semiautomatic weapons, making it the ninth state to join efforts to prevent the distribution of AR-15s and other powerful rifles often used in mass shootings. The new laws put Washington in the ranks of states with the strongest gun control measures in the nation. They include a 10-day waiting period on gun purchases, gun safety training requirements and a provision allowing the state attorney general and consumers to sue gun manufacturers or dealers under public nuisance laws if they negligently allow their guns to fall into the hands of minors or 'dangerous individuals.'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: There are two Americas. One is getting better. The other is getting worse. I think the second one is bigger than the first one.
Way Beyond
Afghanistan. Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The suspected mastermind of a gruesome suicide bombing during the United States' pullout from Afghanistan was killed by the Taliban in recent weeks, U.S. officials disclosed Tuesday, an extraordinary development spotlighting the Biden administration's newfound reliance on a former battlefield adversary to help confront terrorist threats. An estimated 170 Afghans and 13 American troops died in the 2021 attack near the Abbey Gate at Kabul's airport. Biden administration officials identified the suspect as a leader within the Islamic State's Afghanistan chapter, known as Islami State-Khorasan or ISIS-K. They declined, however, to reveal the person's name and how the person was killed, citing concerns that doing so could jeopardize the U.S. government's ability to collect information about future activities in the region." The AP report is here.
Ukraine, et al. The Washington Post's live briefing of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine is here: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Wednesday he spoke with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time since the war began, calling the phone call 'long and meaningful' but giving few details.... Xi said China would send a special representative to Ukraine for talks on resolving the crisis, state media reported. 'Amid the current rise of reasonable thinking and voices from all sides, we should seize the opportunity to build up favorable conditions for a political settlement of the crisis,' Xi told Zelensky." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's live updates for Wednesday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
U.K. Rupert Paid a Prince. Karla Adam of the Washington Post: "Prince William was paid a 'very large sum' by Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group to settle phone-hacking claims, according to court documents submitted Tuesday by the legal team of his younger brother, Prince Harry. Harry is suing Murdoch's News Group Newspapers (NGN) at the High Court in London for unlawful acts -- including hacking his voice mails -- that he alleges were committed on behalf of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World tabloids from 1994 until 2016. The hearing is to determine whether the case should go to trial. In documents submitted to the court, Harry's legal team alleged there was a secret payment from Murdoch's company to William." (Also linked yesterday.)
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Reader Comments (20)
Marie recalls those halcyon days of her callow youth when the prospect of rape trial involving a former president* was unthinkable. Callow youth=eight years ago, BT (before Trump).
Speaking of this rape trial and considering how terrible things have become in the Age of Trump, officials in New York have taken great pains to hide the identities of jurors, deciding that no names be used other than Juror One, Juror Two, etc., and moving them in and out of the courtroom under armed guards, even designing a plan to transport them to and from the courtroom in secret, dropping them off at unmarked and unreported locations, a careful plan that wouldn’t be out of place in a spy novel.
Why?
Trump conditioned violence, that’s why. I’m not even sure juries in mob trials require such stringent protection both from outside parties working on behalf of the defendant who might try to threaten, coerce, or otherwise unduly influence jurors, or who might try to hurt or kill them, now or later, should the Big Boss be found guilty.
You would never see such caution were a Democrat on trial. Only Trump, for whom threats of violence are a way of life.
Another sad, alarming, and nasty reality in the Age of Trump.
And another sad reality? It won’t be just Ms. Carroll testifying as to Fatty’s sexual violence, multiple women whom he has attacked in the past will be telling their stories. This isn’t a one off. And hopefully the jury will see Trump’s decision to skip the trial as arrogance in the first degree. He considers it beneath his royal person to show up at legal proceedings caused by no one and nothing other than himself and his disgusting sense of sexual, pussy grabbing privilege. President* Pig.
Wake up call for Dick Durbin! Senator Durbin, time to get up. Rise and shine. It ain’t 1998 anymore.
1998, Durbin’s second year in office, there were still a handful of not completely insane Republicans. Oh, there were plenty of bomb throwers, and that period was the start of today’s traitor stew, so it’s not like he’s been underwater since then. But it sure seems like he’s doing his best Jacques Cousteau impersonation. “Look! A blue octopus! Isn’t that lovely!” Yeah. Very nice. But come back up now, we’re being boarded by pirates.
Subpoena these motherfuckers! Don’t just sit there and take it. You cordially invite John Roberts to come talk about the ethical abyss formerly known as the US Supreme Court and he gives you a very uncordial middle finger. “Hey, Dick. This for you and this for your horse!”
Fuck that. He’s not a king. He’s a goddamn public servant. This is unacceptable. And saying “Oh, we won’t bother inviting Clarence Thomas cuz he won’t come anyway” is stoopid. Tell him to show up and explain his trashing of judicial ethics. MAKE him tell you No! That puts the onus on him for acting like King Shit.
I am so fucking sick and tired of people like Durbin and Garland acting like we’re not at war with thugs, liars, and barbarians. We are in an existential crisis and these fucking guys are acting like it’s a cocktail party where a couple of guys didn’t laugh at their jokes.
And Dianne Feinstein!!! Holy mother of god! Another RBG disaster. We control the Senate but we can’t get any judges confirmed because she isn’t there, won’t step down, and Durbin and Biden say “Well, it’s her call”. NO! It isn’t! It fucking isn’t. It just isn’t! Not if she can’t show up. I don’t care if she’s the Queen of Sheba. We need someone now! It’s like you’re playing in the NBA finals but your power forward is permanently out and you have to play the dirtiest team in the league with only four guys and the refs are best friends with those guys.
Fuck me!
The NYT's has an excellent piece on age related health issues. Experts weigh in on octogenarian health because of Biden's bid for another term (they cite his minor health issues––a few I was not aware of).
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/well/live/biden-president-age-health-2024.html
AK: After reading your post I suddenly could put myself in the shoes of Fatty's followers, so connected to him in a visceral way that they might very well shoot one those jurists if they could. The adoration for this despicable man smacks of a religious fervor that knows no bounds. It's a passion-–-and in some small way has a sexual component.
Why, why, why are we always in this position? Why? We get the White House, the Senate, AND the House (for a short period) but then we act all nice to the criminals. They only have the House now, and just barely, but they call the shots and act like they have a super majority. And STILL we play nice!! Oh, we don’t want to piss them off. What? It’s not like they are EVER going to be reasonable or..or KIND. Dick Durbin asked Republicans to be kind to Feinstein. Is he high? That’s like sending Heinrich Himmler an invitation to a Seder and asking him could he please bring his bubbe’s matzah.
Jesus!
PD,
Right. And that’s another reason that DeSantolini will never be a Trump replacement for the MAGA mob. He’s a pencil pushing technocrat, albeit an authoritarian asshole technocrat. But he doesn’t inspire the mob to want to kill people for him (and then actually do it).
Trump not only inspires violence, he demands it. He brings out the absolute worst in people, despite the fact that everyone who gets near him gets it right in the neck. Look at all those insurrection douchebags who followed his directions to “go to the Capitol and take back the country!”. Hordes of them are now sitting in a cell or awaiting trial while his fat ass is tooling around in a golf cart. Look at TuKKker KKKarlson. He went full Trumpy, despite supposedly hating him, and now he’s got a one-way (I hope) ticket to Palookaville.
But still, there are plenty out there who would gladly kill for him. Those jurors in the rape case should be aware of that.
I always thought that there's a little good in everyone, no matter what.
So here's a list of all of trump's good attributes:
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----------
----------
End of list.
AK: My reply to you was related to your first post. Now that I've read your second, I wonder if you might be a wee bit hard on Durbin but since I'm ignorant of the inner dialogues between members of the senate, you may be right. The S.C. brush-off would piss me off royally and royally is what they seem to be conveying–--"we can't be touched"––-so I join you in that frustration and anger.
Local news: In my neck of the woods there are many havens–-the main one is New Haven followed by its sisters, East Haven and West Haven and the one closest to us is North Haven where protesters prevented a gun shop from opening there just a few days ago. Now that's what I call great news!
Now that I think of it, Trump’s presence at the trial would probably seal his fate. Can’t you just picture the eye rolls, the faces, the head shakes, the outbursts? It’d be Ringling Brothers without big top. “Look kids! That orange elephant just took a dump on the clown car!” Yeah. “Guilty!”
Forrest,
You forgot his medal for making the bed.
I think…wait, wait, wait…yeah, okay.
That’s it.
@Akhilleus: Totally in agreement about Feinstein & all those courtly politicians who say it's up to her to decide if showing up for work is a job requirement.
And save me the "elected official" thing. Sure, you can't just boot an elected official. The will of the people and all that. But what voter goes to the polls with the idea, "I'll vote for this person, and if she can't do one damned things to promote my values and represent my wishes, that's fine with me"? Obviously, every business or public agency replaces an essential employee if that employee is unable to work. And the "rules" for these different entities are different. The rules for the Senate are, "Help Dianne sign a resignation letter."
Oh, and a third argument I've heard is the fakey feminist cop-out: "You wouldn't be questioning an old man, like Chuck Grassley, if he couldn't do his job." Oh, yeah. You would. Do you think if Mitch needed Chuck to push through some Trumpy judicial nominees and Chuck was out sick with a hangnail or skin tag, Mitch would just send Chuck a delicious edible arrangement and hope for the best? Ha Ha Ha.
Thanks for your service, Dianne. I mean that. Now get out. I mean that, too.
(P.S. to Chuck Schumer: send Dianne that delicious edible arrangement and have a few pointed word with Gentleman Dick.)
VanSickle -"all nine justices, under mounting pressure for more stringent reporting requirements at the court, insisted that the existing rules around gifts, travel and other financial disclosures are sufficient"
That statement shows that all the Supremes are not fit for the bench and should all be replaced by people who will actually serve the American people and be responsive to democracy and the law. Protecting criminal behavior on the court should automatically disqualify someone from ruling on criminal behavior outside of the court. Signing on to that statement either means you are fine with the status quo, blatant corruption, or you're trying to show solidarity, in which you are showing a lack of leadership, courage, and care for the law and institution. Either way it means that they don't have the required skills to preside on the court that decides the fates of the rest of us mere humans.
@RAS: I agree. Did Sotomayor, Kagan & Jackson sign willingly or did Roberts threaten to cap their knees? I don't see how "maintaining collegiality" justifies approving of Thomas & Gorsuch, et al., colluding with their secret, super-rich benefactors.
In the meantime, that document they all signed, whether or not coerced, is an assertion of infallibility. It is simply an affront to the democratic idea that a quasi-democratic nation would establish as integral to its systemic structure a cadre of officials whom none other can check. There is an inherent irony in the oft-repeated bromide that "we are a government of laws, not of people" (thanks, Merrick!), while the Supremes themselves are signing documents that directly contradict that premise.
@Marie: According to the Roberts defenders he has no real power to do anything within the court. So they either signed willingly or were tricked or coerced into adding their names to the statement. None of those options look good for them or us.
State law in Florida requires an officeholder who holds an elected post and runs for another to resign their current office. This is a big problem as we have a governor with Imperial aspirations.
Not to worry; the Tallahassee Lapdogs, AKA the state legislature is inserting an amendment into an election bill that will allow state officeholders to remain in their current position IF they are running for US President or Vice President.
Problem solved.
Another very plausible reason for all nine justices to sign the document is that they all have undeclared gifts, even the “good ones.”
I have been waiting, since the day Roberts gutted the Voting Rights Act and the immediate passing of discriminatory laws in some states, for a reporter to ask him whether he really thinks racism has been eliminated in the US. Never happened. And it looks like it never will. They are completely isolated from our reality.
Although DiJiT has no good qualities, he does have one useful characteristic:
No one is so useless that he can't serve as a bad example.
He IS the avatar of bad examples.
Bobby Lee,
What you describe is right out of the Authoritarian’s Handbook. Oh look…a law that says our dictator wannabe can’t do something. Hang on…presto-vote-o-chage-o! That law is gone. Whooosh!
This is how Victor Orban made Hungary his personal fief. Change election laws to make sure you can pack the legislature with your hand picked stooges, then get them to change the constitution. That way, when you pull some bullshit authoritarian move and citizens say “Wait a minute, you can’t do that, it’s illegal!” you can say “Not anymore. Ha!”
DeSantolini didn’t invent this sort of sleazy crap. He’s just doing what dictators have been doing for eons.
This is what red states are doing with obscene gerrymandering and what the Supreme Court is doing. “Wait…don’t ethics rules matter?” “Not anymore! Ha!”
Just saw where Disney has sued Gov DeSantis alleging political effort to hurt it's business.
Marie reports that DeSantolini is creating his own army.
Hey! That’s chapter 2, page 13 of the Authoritarian’s Hamdbook, right after the section on packing the legislature with toadies and changing laws that curtail your powers. He’s on a roll.
In the article linked herein, someone suggests that this expanded army is for, um, ahhh…let’s see…um…emergencies! Yeah! That’s it. Eee-mergencies.
Yeah. Like if a Democrat beats one of Ronito’s lackeys in an election. Or if Mickey and Donald get uppity.
Just waiting for when he starts adding epaulettes to his jackets and sporting self-awarded fruit salad on his chest.
Will this Regimento di Ronito be wearing black shirts and jackboots? That’d be a nice touch.
Two thoughts. One sadly occasioned by Tucker (as in any thought associated with Tucker is by nature sad.)
He's gone, not because of what he said or did, but because what he thought and said became known, and it's the knowing that ultimately counts in any public enterprise, be it business, science or society at large that provides knowledge's power.
Knowledge in those arenas is power but only when that knowledge is in public view. Tucker was safe as long as nobody knew.
Tucker's hidden knowledge has its own power, of course, for him. The subterranean Tucker was safe as long as his secrets remained mostly hidden from the public.
In that sense secrets empower the one keeping them. We all know that telling all one does know can get one into trouble. In that sense, the power of lies to obscure facts or to mislead could be seen as secrecy by commission and has a power of its own.
That said, if a functioning democracy requires an informed public, if we can expect the public to make good decisions only if they have the knowledge necessary to make them, then anything that restricts or interferes with their ability to acquire that knowledge is fundamentally anti-democratic.
In our creaky polity, even discounting the internet, there's a lot of that--secrecy and lies-- going around, and often treated as something to be expected and even acceptable. That worries me.
And on the government of laws, not of men thing, kinda depends, doesn't it? Which men are we talking about?
The conservatives on the SCOTUS (whose dealing aren't so secret now)? DeSantis?
Or you or me?