;)
April 9, 2022
Afternoon Update:
Christina Goldbaum & Salman Masood of the New York Times: "Imran Khan, the former international cricket star turned politician who oversaw a new era of Pakistan's foreign policy that distanced the country from the United States, was removed as prime minister early on Sunday after losing a no-confidence vote in Parliament. The vote, coming amid soaring inflation and a rift between Mr. Khan's government and the military, capped a political crisis that has embroiled the country for weeks and came down to the wire in a parliamentary session that dragged into the early morning hours. Pakistan remains in a state of turmoil as it heads into an early election season in the coming months. The recent crisis has charged the country's already polarized political climate and has exacerbated tensions between civilian institutions and the country's powerful military establishment."
Luke Harding & Clea Skopeliti of the Guardian: U.K. Prime Minister “Boris Johnson is meeting the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy during an unannounced visit to Kyiv, Ukrainian officials have said. A picture posted on Twitter by the embassy of Ukraine to the UK showed the two leaders sitting across a table in the capital, with their respective flags in the background.... 'The prime minister has travelled to Ukraine to meet President Zelenskiy in person, in a show of solidarity with the Ukrainian people,' [a No. 10] spokesperson said. 'They will discuss the UK's long-term support to Ukraine and the PM will set out a new package of financial and military aid.'"
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Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of developments Saturday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Residents of eastern Ukraine were coming to terms Saturday with the aftermath of a missile attack on a railway station that killed at least 50 people and injured scores of others who were caught in the line of fire while trying to flee the region at the urgent warning of local officials. Friday's attack at the station in Kramatorsk, which killed children and left behind a gruesome scene of bodies scattered between suitcases, is the latest Russian action that should be investigated by a war-crimes tribunal, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said in his nightly address.... A chorus of world leaders, including President Biden and President Emmanuel Macron of France, condemned the attack.... Mr. Zelensky said he discussed the possibility of a special tribunal with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, who visited Kyiv on Friday and surveyed a mass grave in the suburban city of Bucha....
"Slovakia supplied Ukraine with an S-300 air defense system to help defend against Russian missiles and airstrikes, the country's prime minister, Eduard Heger, said during a visit to Kyiv. The United States sent a U.S. Patriot missile system to Slovakia as a replacement for its own defenses to enable the transfer.... Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain announced fresh shipments to Ukraine of an antiaircraft missile system, known as Starstreak, and 800 antitank missiles. The defense minister, Ben Wallace, said Britain would also provide Ukraine with armored vehicles." ~~~
~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Saturday are here: "More than 6,600 people fled from embattled areas in [eastern and southern Ukraine] via humanitarian corridors Friday, according to Kyiv, the highest count this week. The evacuations came as Russia dispatches thousands more troops to eastern Ukraine, according to Washington, suggesting fighting there would intensify. The Kremlin is also concentrating air attacks on southern and eastern Ukraine, the Pentagon said, with Russian planes flying some 240 sorties daily. But some Russian forces deploying east are likely to have already incurred heavy losses, according to U.S. assessment. Combat ahead will be a 'knife fight ... very bloody and very ugly,' a senior U.S. defense official said." ~~~
~~~ The Guardian's live updates for Saturday are here: "A Ukrainian government minister has said she expects Ukraine to be granted EU candidate country status in June. Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said her country was 'ready to move fast' with its application to become a member of the European Union. Her remarks come a day after the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, pledged to offer a speedy response to Ukraine's bid for bloc membership. At a joint news conference with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Von der Leyen handed the Ukrainian president a questionnaire that will form a starting point for a decision on membership, saying: 'It will not as usual be a matter of years to form this opinion but, I think, a matter of weeks.'"
The Arrogance of the Depraved. The Hill: "A Russian missile that struck a train station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine -- killing at least 50 -- had a Russian phrase scribbled on its side that translated to 'for the children.'... In the Kramatorsk strike, 5 children were among the 50 people killed. One hundred people were injured. Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said women and children made up a majority of the nearly 4,000 people who were taking shelter inside the station, according to the BBC. The train station was being used to assist in civilian evacuations."
Thomas Gibbons-Neff & John Ismay of the New York Times: Via rockets, Russians are shooting PTM-1S land mines, a type of scatterable munition, into parts of Ukraine. "The weapons roar in like any rocket, but instead of exploding instantly, they eject up to two dozen mines that explode at intervals, parceling out death in the hours afterward.... These scatterable mines, banned under some interpretations of international law and never officially recorded during this war, have appeared only sparingly in Bezruky and elsewhere in the periphery of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.... The mines are green tubes about the size of a liter of soda, packed with three pounds of explosives."
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Speaking after [a meeting between British Prime Minister Boris Johnson & German Chancellor Olaf Scholz], Mr. Johnson said Germany had committed to weaning itself off Russian energy, even if the European Union has rejected British calls for a clear timetable to eliminate imports of Russian gas.... Britain, under Mr. Johnson, has staked out the most aggressive role of any major European power in its support for Ukraine and its condemnation of Russia. Yet its influence on Germany and France is questionable, given that Britain, having left the European Union, no longer has a seat at the table in Brussels.... For Mr. Scholz, the economic and political costs of cutting off Russian gas outweigh anything Mr. Johnson can say to him." ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "Vladimir Putin's war of aggression runs on the money Russia gets by selling fossil fuels to Europe.... Putin won't be definitively stopped until Europe ends its energy dependence. Which means that Germany -- whose political and business leaders insist that they can't do without Russian natural gas, even though many of its own economists disagree -- has in effect become Putin's prime enabler. This is shameful; it is also incredibly hypocritical given recent German history.... Germany has been warned for decades about the risks of becoming dependent on Russian gas. But its leaders, focused on the short-run benefits of cheap energy, ignored those warnings. On the eve of the Ukraine war, 55 percent of German gas came from Russia.... One member of the German Council of Economic Experts ... [said that] an embargo on Russian gas would be difficult but 'feasible.'... German industrialists refuse to accept economists' estimates, insisting that a gas embargo would indeed be catastrophic.... Unfortunately, Germany's political leaders, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz, have taken the side of the scaremongers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Stupid AND Depraved. Andrew Kramer & Ivor Prickett of the New York Times: "As the staging ground for an assault on the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, one of the most toxic places on earth, was probably not the best choice. But that did not seem to bother the Russian generals who took over the site in the early stages of the war. 'We told them not to do it, that it was dangerous, but they ignored us,' Valeriy Simyonov, the chief safety engineer for the Chernobyl nuclear site, said in an interview. Apparently undeterred by safety concerns, the Russian forces tramped about the grounds with bulldozers and tanks, digging trenches and bunkers -- and exposing themselves to potentially harmful doses of radiation lingering beneath the surface.... The soldiers had apparently camped out for weeks in the radioactive forest.... As they retreated from Chernobyl, Russian troops blew up a bridge in the exclusion zone and planted a dense maze of anti-personnel mines, trip wires and booby traps around the defunct station. Two Ukrainian soldiers have stepped on mines in the past week, according to the Ukrainian government agency that manages the site."
You're Paying for Elon Musk's "Charitable" Gifts & PR. Cristiano Lima of the Washington Post: "After Russia launched its invasion, Ukrainian officials publicly pleaded for Elon Musk's SpaceX to dispatch their Starlink terminals to the region to boost Internet access. 'Starlink service is now active in Ukraine. More terminals en route,' Musk replied to broad online fanfare. Since then, the company has cast the actions in part as a charitable gesture. 'I'm proud that we were able to provide the terminals to folks in Ukraine,' SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said at a public event last month, later telling CNBC, 'I don't think the U.S. has given us any money to give terminals to the Ukraine.' But according to documents obtained by The Technology 202, the U.S. federal government is in fact paying millions for a significant portion of the equipment and for the transportation costs to get it to Ukraine On Tuesday, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it has purchased 1,333 terminals from SpaceX to send to Ukraine, while the company donated 3,667 terminals and the Internet service itself." Emphasis original. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "President Biden on Friday basked in the confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, hailing what he called a moment of 'real change' in American history as he and his supporters celebrated the ascension of the first Black woman to the court. Flanked by Judge Jackson and Vice President Kamala Harris -- the first Black woman to hold her role and whom he called the first 'smart' decision of his presidency -- Mr. Biden said the judge's confirmation had changed not only his own trajectory but the course of American life itself.... Mr. Biden said on Friday that Judge Jackson had endured 'verbal abuse' and 'vile' personal attacks but had shown poise through more than 20 hours of questioning in confirmation hearings that at times turned bruising.... In her remarks, Judge Jackson ... recalled substantive meetings with 97 senators and thanked them for their role in the nomination process, providing a graceful coda to hours of televised interactions with senators who had often acted emotionally as they questioned her." MB: "Emotionally"? How about with rancor, lies, abuse, character assassination, racism & misogyny? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ~~~
~~~ Video of the remarks is here. A Guardian story is here. Politico's story is here.
Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times: "... there's nothing that [soon-to-be Justice Jackson] or the other liberals on the court (or Chief Justice John Roberts, for that matter) can do to restrain a hard-right conservative majority that seeks to unravel what's left of postwar jurisprudence.... The liberal mythology around the Supreme Court -- the idea that it stands in defense of marginalized groups and underrepresented minorities -- took shape when the court changed to meet the demands of the New Deal and the postwar welfare state.... In the hands of the current conservative majority, the court will most likely remain a defender of minority rights that adjudicates social and political conflict. But rather than marginal and oppressed minorities, this court will turn its attention to the interests and prerogatives of powerful political minorities -- you might call them factions -- that seek to dominate others free of federal interference.... Large corporations, right-wing activists and conservative religious groups ... will approach the court knowing a majority of justices are almost certainly on their side." An interesting read, all the way through.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) has had enough of Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Hypocrite):
~~~ Greg Sargent of the Washington Post: "Schatz ripped ...[Hawley] over his hold on a senior staffing nominee to the Defense Department, even as the United States is calibrating its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.... [Hawley's] arguments are saturated in almost bottomless levels of bad faith. That's the real topic of Schatz's tirade.... Beyond this, Schatz noted that it's absurd to use these differences as an excuse to apply a hold, especially given Hawley's vote against a spending bill that contained billions in military aid to Ukraine sought by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. And Schatz derided the call for [Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin to resign as ludicrous grandstanding.... 'Spare me the new solidarity with the Ukrainians,' Schatz said of Hawley on the floor. 'Because this man's record is exactly the opposite.'" Sargent writes that Democrats don't call out Republican absurdities nearly enough. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** The Coup Plot Was Born Before the Election Was Called. Ryan Nobles, et al., of CNN: "Two days after the 2020 presidential election, as votes were still being tallied, Donald Trump's eldest son texted then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows that 'we have operational control' to ensure his father would get a second term, with Republican majorities in the US Senate and swing state legislatures.... In the text, which has not been previously reported, Donald Trump Jr. lays out ideas for keeping his father in power by subverting the Electoral College process, according to the message reviewed by CNN. The text is among records obtained by the House select committee investigating January 6, 2021. 'It's very simple,' Trump Jr. texted to Meadows on November 5, adding later in the same missive: 'We have multiple paths We control them all.'... The November 5 text message outlines a strategy that is nearly identical to what allies of the former President attempted to carry out in the months that followed. Trump Jr. makes specific reference to filing lawsuits and advocating recounts to prevent certain swing states from certifying their results, as well as having a handful of Republican state houses put forward slates of fake 'Trump electors.' If all that failed, according to the Trump Jr. text, GOP lawmakers in Congress could simply vote to reinstall Trump as President on January 6."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Ali Alexander, a prominent organizer of pro-Trump events after the 2020 election, has agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department's investigation of the attack on the Capitol last year, the first high-profile political figure known to have offered assistance to the government's newly expanded criminal inquiry. Speaking through a lawyer, Mr. Alexander said on Friday that he had recently received a subpoena from a federal grand jury that is seeking information on several broad categories of people connected to pro-Trump rallies that took place in Washington after the election." A Guardian story is here.
Tom Jackman & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A North Carolina man [-- Charles Donohue --] who was one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys as they assaulted the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, pleaded guilty Friday to two felony counts with a minimum sentence of nearly six years in prison and agreed to cooperate against other defendants in hopes of getting a lighter sentence. Court records filed Friday show he has provided numerous insights into the group's plans and intention to disrupt the electoral vote confirmation.... Donohoe, 34, of Kernersville, N.C., admitted to conspiring to help organize an attack on Congress by supporters of ... Donald Trump and to assaulting law enforcement officers. Donohoe is the first among six of the charged Proud Boys leaders, including chairman Enrique Tarrio, to admit to planning an attack on Congress and assaulting law enforcement officers." CNN's story is here.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge has informed a defendant in the highest-profile conspiracy cases stemming from the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol that he will need to find a new attorney because his lawyer has been disbarred. During a hearing Friday in the seditious conspiracy case against 10 alleged leaders and members of the Oath Keepers militia, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta informed defendant Kelly Meggs that lawyer Jonathon Moseley cannot continue to defend him as a result of an action a panel of Virginia judges took last week to revoke Moseley's right to practice law in that state. Politico first reported Tuesday that Moseley, who also represents other individuals in Jan.6-related litigation, had been disbarred in the state following a disciplinary hearing in Virginia's Prince William County last week.... Meggs, who was a leader of the Oath Keepers' Florida chapter, complained that finding a new attorney will be all but impossible due to restrictions on prisoners at the D.C. Jail.... Mehta said he would reach out to officials at the jail to see if restrictions on Meggs' phone use can be relaxed." ~~~
~~~ P.S. Some Judges Keep Up with the News. From Gerstein's report: “Mehta indicated that Moseley sought to have the portion of Friday's hearing about his disbarment held under seal, but the judge rejected that. He said the bar action had drawn public attention and wasn't much of a secret at this point. 'There has been public reporting about your circumstances. I've read a number of articles about it,' said Mehta."
We're Crooks, We're Crooks, We're Crookedy-Crooked Crooks. Matthew Lee of the AP: "The State Department says it is unable to compile a complete and accurate accounting of gifts presented to ... Donald Trump and other U.S. officials by foreign governments during Trump's final year in office, citing missing data from the White House. In a report to be published in the Federal Register next week, the department says the Executive Office of the President did not submit information about gifts received by Trump and his family from foreign leaders in 2020. It also says the General Services Administration didn't submit information about gifts given to former Vice President Mike Pence and White House staffers that year. The State Department said it sought the missing information from National Archives and Records Administration and the General Services Administration, but was told that 'potentially relevant records' are not available because of access restrictions related to retired records.... [The report] also noted that there had been a 'lack of adequate recordkeeping pertaining to diplomatic gifts' betwee" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "A Canadian steel industry billionaire illegally helped steer $1.75 million in donations to a pro-Trump super PAC and has agreed to pay one of the largest fines ever levied by the Federal Election Commission to settle the case, the commission said on Friday. The $975,000 fine will be paid by entities controlled by Barry Zekelman, a steel industry executive from Ontario who had lobbied the Trump administration to use its power to tighten import restrictions on Mr. Zekelman's competitors from around the world. The action came as the election commission continues a multiyear crackdown on foreign influence in American politics. Mr. Zekelman's donations in 2018 to the America First Action super PAC helped him secure an invitation to a private dinner with ... Donald J. Trump at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, where Mr. Zekelman personally pushed Mr. Trump about the steel tariffs and other matters.... Mr. Zekelman, in a settlement deal that his lawyer signed in late March but that was finalized on Friday, also agreed to ask America First Action, which helped support Mr. Trump's 2020 election efforts, to return the donated money, or to redirect it to the U.S. Treasury." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Ha ha. Good luck with that. These are crookedy-crooked crooks, and they don't just cheerfully return ill-gotten gains.
A Bronx Cheer for Trump. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "The Trump Organization can continue to operate a city-owned golf course in the Bronx after a judge ruled on Friday that New York City had wrongly terminated the company's contract following the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol in Washington. New York City moved to cancel the lucrative contract at the course, the Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, just days after the attacks on the Capitol last year...." Politico's story is here.
Little by Little. Aaron Gregg of the Washington Post: "Employees at six more Starbucks coffee shops in Upstate New York voted to unionize Thursday and Friday, delivering a string of wins for the nascent organization effort at one of America's most ubiquitous coffee retailers. Workers United, a labor union affiliated with the Service Employees International Union, announced Thursday afternoon that two stores in Rochester and another in Buffalo had voted in its favor. Then on Friday afternoon the National Labor Relations Board confirmed that workers at three more coffee shops, in Ithaca, N.Y., voted overwhelmingly to form a union, bringing the number of unionized company-owned stores to 16 out of almost 9,000."
Karen Weise of the New York Times: "Amazon objected on Friday to a landmark union election at its Staten Island fulfillment center, saying an upstart union's unorthodox tactics there crossed legal lines, according to a copy of its filing to the National Labor Relations Board obtained by The New York Times. The company argued that the result should be thrown out because the labor board had conducted the election in a way that favored the union and members of the union had coerced workers into supporting their cause."
Extreme Tourism. Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "A crew comprised entirely of private citizens blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center on a flight to the International Space Station Friday morning, marking yet another milestone in the evolution of human spaceflight and the growth of the commercial space sector. A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off at 11:17 a.m., carrying three wealthy entrepreneurs, each of whom paid $55 million for the mission, and a former NASA astronaut, who is serving as their guide. While private citizens have for years flown to the space station on Russian rockets, the mission -- which was commissioned by Axiom Space, a Houston-based company -- is the first all-private mission to the station. It also is the first time private citizens have flown to the station from American soil." The Guardian's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I suppose there is some minimal value to sending these super-rich bozos into space (like maybe finding out how the bodies of super-rich bozos react to weightlessness or whatever), but there are better places for super-rich bozos to deposit their money, one of them being into the coffers of the U.S. Treasury.
From the New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Friday: "At least 53 people have tested positive for the coronavirus since attending The Gridiron Club and Foundation's annual dinner last Saturday in Washington, the group's president confirmed on Friday. The Gridiron Club dinner, an annual white-tie roast between journalists and presidential administrations, was held at the Renaissance Hotel. But a night of good-natured ribbing has devolved into an outbreak of cases among Washington's elite, including members of Congress, members of the president's cabinet and journalists."
Beyond the Beltway
Alabama. Rick Rojas of the New York Times: "Gov. Kay Ivey of Alabama signed legislation on Friday that prevents medical professionals from providing care that aids transgender young people in transitioning, adopting some of the country's most restrictive measures and threatening doctors and nurses with up to 10 years in prison. Ms. Ivey, a Republican, also approved legislation that requires students to use restrooms and locker rooms for the sex listed on their original birth certificates. It also limits classroom discussions on gender and sexual orientation -- a version of what critics call a 'Don't Say Gay' measure that goes further than some other states.... Legal challenges are being prepared by the Transgender Law Center and the American Civil Liberties Union, among other groups, to stop the legislation from being carried out. Last year, a federal court blocked Arkansas from enforcing a similar law." (See yesterday's page for related link to related story (and the link to that story is fixed.) The Guardian's report is here.
California. Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times: "A federal jury found a former water polo coach at the University of Southern California guilty on Friday of taking thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for designating high school applicants as recruits so they would be favored in the college admissions process. The defendant, Jovan Vavic, has been the only coach to stand trial rather than take a guilty plea in the federal investigation known as Operation Varsity Blues, in which wealthy parents paid bribes to have their children admitted to elite schools. Mr. Vavic was a star at U.S.C. who had stewarded the men's and women's water polo teams to 16 national championships.... Prosecutors ... said that Mr. Vavic received more than $200,000 in bribes from William Singer, a college admissions consultant to the rich, in exchange for facilitating the recruitment of athletes with trumped-up credentials.... [The U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, Rachel] Rollins, said the verdict resolved all the cases connected to Mr. Singer, with 54 convictions, one deferred prosecution agreement and one person pardoned by ... Donald J. Trump."
Idaho. AP: "The Idaho Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a new state law that would ban abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy and allow the law to be enforced through lawsuits. Idaho last month had become the first state to enact legislation modeled after the Texas statute banning abortions after about six weeks. The ruling from Idaho's high court in a lawsuit brought by Planned Parenthood means the new law won't go into effect as planned on April 22. The state Supreme Court instructed both sides to file further briefs as it considers the case before its ultimate decision."
Michigan. Josh Flesher & Ed White of the AP: "Two of four men were acquitted Friday in a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020, motivated by fury at the Democrat's tough COVID-19 restrictions early in the pandemic. The jury's verdicts against Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta were read in the federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in the case presided over by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker. Jurors said they couldn't agree on verdicts again Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. Prosecutors described Fox as a ringleader of an anti-government group. Fox, Croft and Harris faced additional charges. The two most serious charges, kidnapping conspiracy and conspiracy to use explosives, both carry potential life sentences. Defense attorneys portrayed their clients as credulous weekend warriors prone to big, wild talk, who were often stoned. They said FBI undercover agents and informants tricked and cajoled the men into agreeing to a conspiracy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) The Detroit Free Press story is here. MB: I guess you can't convict right-wing white terrorists in upstate Wisconsin.
Way Beyond
France. Jonathan Lemire of Politico: "The White House has begun to harbor fears that Vladimir Putin could soon notch his biggest victory of Russia's invasion of Ukraine -- in Paris. There is growing concern within President Joe Biden's administration about the narrowing polls in the French presidential election that show a tight race between incumbent Emmanuel Macron and far-right challenger Marine Le Pen. A possible victory by Le Pen, a Putin sympathizer, could destabilize the Western coalition against Moscow, upending France's role as a leading European power and potentially giving other NATO leaders cold feet about staying in the alliance, according to three senior administration officials not authorized to publicly discuss private conversations."
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Reader Comments (7)
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-backed-vernon-jones-says-093035319-
html
Trunp lover Vernon Jones (R-deludedGa) says civil rights don't apply
to gay people because 'they can actually change' to become straight.
Blacks don't have that choice, says he. 'When did a shipload of gays
ever come over?'
Evidently he's not aware of cruise ships catering solely to gays.
Perfectly predictable but galling nonetheless...
My father had a book, once famous in the pre- (I think) WWII days, called "Merchants of Death," chronicling war's big winners, the arms dealers. I may still have that book somewhere. Will have to check.
In the meantime this:
https://inthesetimes.com/article/national-defense-industrial-association-war-weapons-lockheed-martin-raytheon-ukraine-russia-military?
Will we never learn?
If using the weapons of war is a crime against humanity, why is not selling them equally heinous?
These thin and shifting lines that separate OK from not OK are too hard for my simple mind to follow.
Memory served:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchants_of_death
Steve M. has a post about the Rights latest pedo label for anyone opposing them and how it will probably be adopted to fit whatever audiences they are playing to, just like birtherism.
In this tribute to Eric Boehlert Joan Walsh connects some of his earlier work covering the Gore campaign and the press to his recent articles about Biden and the press coverage. "Eric has been on the same story for the last 23 years: the callow, irresponsible way that our Beltway media has covered Democrats in these decades." A lot of the stuff we've talked about here at RC, but Boehlert does such a great job of putting it all together.
Forest: Reading about Vernon me thinks HE thinks like someone who is pissed that "gays" can change at will to become straight arrows just like ole Vernon who sez, "See? I'm ME–-black, can't change that!" According to my Black daughter-in-law, she thinks Black men, especially, have problems with gays and with being gay–--the first because it puts minority upon minority and the second because of the negative messages they get from their pastor's.
But back to Vernon: Do I detect a switch-a roo kind of process going on? He, himself done change a bunch of political stances, no? Or maybe having the "love" and approval of the King ––Donald, not Martin–-is enough to continue to lie to himself. OR–-he's one very ignorant man.
This swicharoo-changey idea confederates have about gay people…
Why couldn’t it go the other way? Straight people changed into gays?
Idiots changed into smart people…
Baptists into Muslims…
Even better, how about a form of therapy that could change an ignorant bigoted asshole into an informed, tolerant, decent human being?
I read about an experiment recently in which Foxbots were paid to watch an hour of CNN a day for a few weeks (or something like that). At the end, a certain percentage actually developed brain cells. So maybe there is hope for some kind asshole-into-decent human being therapy.
While he may have made up rationales for his bigotry, fundamentally, I expect Vernon Jones suffers from the same malady as his white confederate friends: an acute case of factionitis. This is a condition where a person asserts not only that his own group should enjoy special status but also that his own group is more victimized than other groups.
While in Jones case, this is arguably true, the condition is not limited to his group. For instance, white men, white Christians, straight people, evangelicals, white confederates, elite and/or rich people, all may suffer from the same illness and to the same degree Jones does, even though actual discrimination against them is comparably minimal. At the same time, they're all sure people who do not belong to their particular group are lucky-duckies who get away with everything from free Obamaphones to "free love."
There is no known cure for factionitis, though Akhilleus' suggestion that sufferers watch a few hours of CNN every week could be palliative. It's worth further study.