The Ledes

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Washington Post: “Towns throughout western North Carolina ... were transformed overnight by ... [Hurricane Helene]. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls.... The death toll grew throughout the Southeast as the scope of Helene’s devastation came into clearer view. At least 49 people had been killed in five states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. By early counts, South Carolina suffered the greatest loss of life, registering at least 19 deaths.”

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The Ledes

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Washington Post: “Rescue teams raced to submerged homes, scoured collapsed buildings and steered thousands from overflowing dams as Helene carved a destructive path Friday, knocking out power and flooding a vast arc of communities across the southeastern United States. At least 40 people were confirmed killed in five states since the storm made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 behemoth, unleashing record-breaking storm surge and tree-snapping gusts. 4 million homes and businesses have lost electricity across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, prompting concerns that outages could drag on for weeks. Mudslides closed highways. Water swept over roofs and snapped phone lines. Houses vanished from their foundations. Tornadoes added to the chaos. The mayor of hard-hit Canton, N.C., called the scene 'apocalyptic.'” An AP report is here.

The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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January 19, 2023

Afternoon Update:

Yeah, Right. Adam Liptak & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court announced on Thursday that an internal investigation had failed to identify the person who leaked a draft of the opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had established a constitutional right to abortion. In a 20-page report, the court's marshal, Gail A. Curley, who oversaw the inquiry, said that investigators had conducted 126 formal interviews of 97 employees, all of whom had denied being the source of the leak. But several employees acknowledged that they had told their spouses or partners about the draft opinion and the vote count in violation of the court's confidentiality rules, the report said. The investigation did not determine whether any of those discussions led to a copy of the draft opinion becoming public. Investigators also found no forensic evidence of who may have leaked the opinion...." The AP's report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, they know. At least Roberts knows, as do at least a few others. And they don't want you to know. Because it would be damaging to the confederates. Who do you suppose could walk out of the building with a briefcase full of secret docs & nobody would check him at the door? Oh, I know: a justice. And to whom might he show the opinion? Perhaps his spouse? I'm not saying her name begins with G-I-N-N-I. It very well could be somebody else. But whoever it is, John Roberts isn't saying. I hope the name of the perp leaks, too.

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "A federal judge on Thursday rejected a last-ditch effort by Peter Navarro, a former adviser to ... Donald Trump, to dismiss the contempt of Congress charges he faces for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee, keeping his late January trial on track to begin. U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta said Navarro had failed to prove that the former president wanted him to assert executive privilege over his potential testimony -- a key claim that Navarro has long maintained justified his decision to simply blow off the select committee's subpoena.... Navarro's trial on two charges of contempt of Congress is likely to commence later this month."

Happy Debt Ceiling Day. Jim Tankersley & Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The United States hit its debt limit on Thursday, prompting the Treasury Department to begin using a series of accounting maneuvers to ensure the federal government can keep paying its bills. In a letter to Congress, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen said the government would begin using what is known as extraordinary measures to prevent the nation from breaching its statutory debt limit and asked lawmakers to raise or suspend the cap so that the government could continue meeting its financial obligations." ~~~

~~~ Manu Raju of CNN: "House Republicans from swing districts are flatly rejecting the White House's position that there be no negotiations with Congress over raising the national debt ceiling, insisting that they won't bend to the Democrats' take-it-or-leave-it approach to avoid the first-ever debt default with no conditions attached. The Republicans, many of whom hail from districts that President Joe Biden won or narrowly lost and are seen as the most likely to break ranks with their party's leadership, said they are not willing to back a 'clean' debt ceiling increase, insisting there must be some fiscal agreement first. That view is in line with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who is calling for negotiations with the White House before a possible default occurs later this year."

Julia Jacobs & Graham Bowley of the New York Times: "The actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter for handling the gun that discharged on the set of 'Rust,' killing its cinematographer, as will the movie's armorer, who loaded the gun, prosecutors in New Mexico announced on Thursday. Prosecutors said they would charge Mr. Baldwin with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, saying that he had a duty to ensure the gun and the ammunition were properly checked and that he should never have pointed it at anyone.... Mr. Baldwin, both a producer and a lead actor in 'Rust,' has long denied culpability for the shooting...."

Florida. Patricia Mazzei & Anemona Hartocollis of the New York Times: "Florida will not allow a new Advanced Placement course on African American studies to be offered in its high schools, stating that the course is not 'historically accurate' and violates state law. In a letter last week, the Florida Department of Education informed the College Board, which administers A.P. exams, that it would not include the class in the state's course directory. Rigorous A.P. courses allow high school students to obtain credit and advanced placement in college.... The letter, with no name attached to it, did not cite which law the course violated or what in the curriculum was objectionable.... But last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed legislation that restricted how racism and other aspects of history can be taught in schools and workplaces. The law's sponsors called it the Stop WOKE Act." MB: This whole fake controversy is explicitly racist.

~~~~~~~~~~

     ~~~ Washington Post story, by Tim Carman, here.

Camilo Montoya-Galvez of CBS News: "The Biden administration is set to announce on Thursday a pilot program that will allow groups of private American citizens to financially sponsor the resettlement of refugees fleeing war and violence across the world, three people briefed on the announcement told CBS News. The State Department initiative, which will be called Welcome Corps, could pave the way for a seismic shift in U.S. refugee policy, as most refugees brought to the U.S. for the past decades have been resettled by nine nonprofit organizations that receive federal funding. Under the program, modeled after a long-standing system in Canada, groups of at least five U.S.-based individuals could have the opportunity to sponsor refugees if they raise $2,275 per refugee, pass background checks and submit a plan about how they will assist the newcomers, the sources said."

Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Several of the most extreme Republicans in Congress and those most closely allied with [Donald] Trump have landed seats on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, the main investigative organ in the House. From that perch, they are poised to shape inquiries into the Biden administration and to serve as agents of Mr. Trump in litigating his grievances as he plots his re-election campaign. Their appointments are the latest evidence that the new Republican majority is driven by a hard-right faction that has modeled itself in Mr. Trump's image, shares his penchant for dealing in incendiary statements and misinformation, and is bent on using its newfound power to exact revenge on Democrats and President Biden. Many of the panel's new Republican members -- including Representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania -- are among Mr. Trump's most devoted allies in Congress." ~~~

     ~~~ Christopher Cadelago, et al., of Politico: "House Republicans' installation of some of their most incendiary conservatives on the Oversight Committee is sparking an unexpected feeling inside the White House: unbridled glee.... One White House ally called it a 'political gift.' The jubilation was tempered, somewhat, by Democrats on the Hill who expressed more apprehension about the posting. 'The English language runs out of adjectives to describe the debasement, cynical debasement of the whole process these appointments represent,' Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a senior Oversight panel member, said in an interview. 'And it is, I think, a huge black mark on Kevin McCarthy.'... 'The Republicans have brought the QAnon caucus to the Oversight Committee, and you can expect them to run with the most ludicrous conspiracy theories one can ever imagine,' said Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.).'" MB: I myself am anxious to know if President Biden trained Jewish space lasers on son Hunter's laptop in an unsuccessful effort to zap all the dick pix.

Another Cruel Santos Lie. Michael Gold of the New York Times: "Representative George Santos of New York has said consistently that his mother, Fatima Devolder, was working at her office in the South Tower of the World Trade Center during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Even as he altered his official biography to remove other false claims, Mr. Santos's account of ties to the tragedy remained. But official immigration documents reviewed by The New York Times on Wednesday directly contradict that claim, too. In an application for a visa to enter the United States filed in 2003, Ms. Devolder said that she had left the country for Brazil in June 1999 and had not returned since. In earlier paperwork filed in June 2001, three months before the attacks, Ms. Devolder said that she had been unable to return to the United States since 1999 because her green card had been stolen in Brazil....

"In a message posted on Twitter in July 2021, Mr. Santos said that the attacks 'claimed my mothers life,' but on his campaign website, his biography said that Ms. Devolder 'survived the tragic events on September 11th, but she passed away a few years later when she lost her battle to cancer.' Mr. Santos had also previously said that his mother worked her way up to become 'the first female executive at a major financial institution.' But on immigration documents, she described herself as a housekeeper and home aide." The NBC News story is here. MB: This lie is an affront to New Yorkers and others who suffered losses in the September 11 attacks.

Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is concerned that a former prosecutor who wrote a book about his time investigating Donald Trump may jeopardize the office's continuing probe, potentially violating laws and ethics rules in the process, according to a letter to the publisher and author sent Wednesday. The former investigator, Mark Pomerantz, was put on a special assignment to work the Trump case by Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and helped lead the effort until his abrupt resignation in February 2022, weeks into Bragg's term. Pomerantz and another veteran lawyer, Carey Dunne, quit together in disagreement over how to proceed with the case. Since then, Pomerantz has criticized Bragg, saying he wrongly stopped a move to quickly indict Trump, while Bragg sought more time to evaluate the evidence. Bragg now says a new book by Pomerantz to be published next month by Simon & Schuster could interfere with that effort." (Also linked yesterday.)

You've Seen One Babe, You've Seen 'em All. Shayna Jacobs of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump mistook his sexual assault accuser E. Jean Carroll for his ex-wife Marla Maples when shown a photograph from the 1990s in a deposition at Mar-a-Lago last year, potentially undermining one of the common defenses he has used to deny an attack. Trump ... has repeatedly said Carroll is not his 'type,' suggesting an assault could not have occurred because he would not have pursued her romantically. 'That's Marla, yeah. That's my wife,' Trump said under examination.... The black-and-white photo at issue has been circulating since Carroll made allegations against then-president Trump in 2019...." A CNBC story, which includes the photo, is here. ~~~

     ~~~ Larry Neumeister of the AP: During the deposition, Carroll's attorney Robert "Kaplan asked Trump if he was talking about Carroll's physical appearance in pictures when he said she was not his type. 'Physically she's not my type, and now that I've gotten indirectly to hear things about her, she wouldn't be my type in any way, shape, or form,' he said, calling her accusation 'ridiculous.'" MB: Uh, if Carroll wasn't his "type," why did he mistake her for the woman for whom he abandoned his first wife?

Marc Caputo & Jonathan Allen of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is looking to regain control over his powerful social media accounts. With access to his Twitter account back, Trump's campaign is formally petitioning Facebook's parent company to unblock his account there after it was locked in response to the U.S. Capitol riot two years ago.... A Meta spokesperson declined to comment about Trump beyond saying the company 'will announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.'"

Karen Weise of the New York Times: "Microsoft plans to lay off 10,000 workers, the company said Wednesday, as it looks to trim costs amid economic uncertainty and to refocus on strategic priorities, such as artificial intelligence. The company employed about 221,000 workers as of the end of June, and the cuts amount to less than 5 percent of its global work force. With the cuts, Microsoft becomes the latest tech giant to pull back after a frenzied few years of hiring, when the pandemic-fueled surge in online services and the expansion of cloud computing created fierce competition for tech talent." (Also linked yesterday.)

Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "The coldest and highest parts of the Greenland ice sheet, nearly 2 miles above sea level in many locations, are warming rapidly and showing changes that are unprecedented in at least a millennium, scientists reported Wednesday.... 'We find the 2001-2011 decade the warmest of the whole period of 1,000 years,' said Maria Hörhold, the study's lead author and a scientist at the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany." MB: So now I'm even more irritated that the selfish Danes refused to sell Greenland to Donald Trump. We coulda had another island paradise! (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Florida. DeSantis's Fake Outrage. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has built his national profile, and possibly a future presidential run, on challenging major companies on controversial social issues. But some of those same companies and their lobbyists bankrolled his inaugural festivities this month. Two major fundraisers are lobbyists for Disney, the entertainment giant that DeSantis moved to punish for speaking out against his bill restricting classroom discussions of sexuality. Another inauguration co-chair lobbies for BlackRock, the investment powerhouse that DeSantis's administration divested of state funds in retaliation for the firm's social impact standards. Additional listed sponsors included CVS Health and Walgreens, chain pharmacies that DeSantis criticized at a recent news conference on drug prices."

New York. Luis Ferré-Sadurní & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "After a combative hourslong hearing, the [state] Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-9 against [Gov. Kathy Hochul's] nomination of Justice Hector D. LaSalle, whose nomination was strongly opposed by progressives who saw him as too conservative. The committee's rejection -- the first time that New York lawmakers have voted against a governor's choice for chief judge -- laid bare how vulnerable Ms. Hochul, a Buffalo-area Democrat, may be to a challenge from her own party. All 10 senators who voted against the judge were Democrats; two Democrats voted in favor of Justice LaSalle, while one Democrat and all six Republicans on the committee voted in favor 'without recommendation.' The rejection does not necessarily mean that the LaSalle saga is over. The governor has not ruled out taking legal action to force a vote on Justice LaSalle's nomination on the full Senate floor...."

Way Beyond

New Zealand. Natasha Frost of the New York Times: "Jacinda Ardern, who became a global liberal icon as New Zealand's prime minister but faced deepening political challenges with an election looming at home, said in a surprise announcement on Thursday that she would step down as the country's leader. In a tearful speech in the New Zealand city of Napier, where Ms. Ardern's Labour Party was hosting its summer caucus retreat, she said she did not feel personally prepared to complete another term. She will leave office by Feb. 7, she said.... Labour lawmakers will elect a new leader of the party -- and the country -- in three days' time, Ms. Ardern said." The Guardian's story is here.

Ukraine, et al. The New York Times' live updates of developments Thursday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Thursday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here. ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live briefing for Thursday is here: "The Biden administration is expected to announce a new military package for Ukraine worth about $2.5 billion that is likely to include dozens of Bradley and Stryker armored vehicles, two people familiar with the decision told The Washington Post. The package will also include a restock of ammunition for howitzers and rocket artillery, the people said, and more mine-resistant vehicles. Ukraine's security services opened a criminal investigation into the helicopter crash near a kindergarten that killed at least 14 people, including Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.... U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will convene a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Thursday at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where he will be joined by Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The meeting will include defense ministers and chiefs 'from nearly 50 nations ... to discuss Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine,' the Pentagon said in a statement.... The Wagner Group criticized the Russian Defense Ministry's guidelines restricting soldiers' use of electronic devices. Yevgeniy Prigozhin, the Russian oligarch who heads the private military force, said on Telegram that tablets and smartphones are 'essential to modern warfare,' as the group continues its verbal attacks on the Kremlin."

Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "... the Biden administration has held to a hard line since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, refusing to provide Kyiv with the weapons it needs to target the Crimean Peninsula, which Russia has been using as a base for launching devastating strikes. Now that line is starting to soften. After months of discussions with Ukrainian officials, the Biden administration is finally starting to concede that Kyiv may need the power to strike the Russian sanctuary, even if such a move increases the risk of escalation, according to several U.S. officials.... Crimea, between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, is home to tens of thousands of dug-in Russian troops and numerous Russian military bases. White House officials insist there is no change in position. Crimea, they say, belongs to Ukraine."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (17)

Someone must already be hard at work on the Santos saga. I expect it between hardcovers any day now...

But in a way the book has already been written. As the tissue of Santos lies unravels, I'm reminded of my favorite counter-intelligence (where a pun inheres) caper from WWII.

As the allies prepared to attack Sicily in 1943, they salted a dead body with false intelligence about the impending invasion, locating it someone else, dropped the body in the ocean and let it wash up on Spanish shores...

The Germans swallowed the story...called in book form "The Man Who Never Was..."

Some lessons here. Anyone reading the story is likely to conclude the duped Germans were a little stupid....Maybe they were.

But at least they didn't elect a man who never was to Congress and then place him on committees.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Now that Marjorie TG is on the Homeland security committee, I no
longer have to worry about Jewish space invaders, or whatever it was.

Should I stop working on my bomb shelter. I just know she'll handle
those Russian and N. Korean missiles.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

They also serve…

Interestingly, The Man Who Never Was was portrayed (and not exactly by his own volition) by a man who actually was, at least for a while, a hungry homeless man who had died in London. Glyndwr Michael, a former laborer from Wales, seemed to fit the bill in the plan to fool the Nazis.

The success of the ruse most certainly affected the course of the war and likely saved hundreds, if not thousands of allied lives. An object lesson to all in this country who seek to sweep away the homeless as if they never were.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I am a little surprised I haven't heard of a lawsuit against the Nassau County republicans, the group (I think) that was supposed to do the vetting on ?anto?. It seems like there is some liability there.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@Ken Winkes: I don't know how I know this story, but I've heard it recently and I don't think I've seen the Colin Firth movie. Anyway, a good summary of the true story is here.

January 19, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

@NiskyGuy: It seems like a lot of Republicans are vulnerable: according to reporting I've linked over the past few weeks, both Kevin McCarthy & Elise Stefanik would have heard about some of George's fabrications. McCarthy said just this past Tuesday, "My staff raised concerns when he had a staff member who impersonated my chief of staff, and that person was let go. I never knew about his resume but I always had a few questions about it."

IOW, McCarthy suspected Santos' shenanigans, but he knew about at least some of George's financial shenanigans, and of course it's the financial stuff that is the greatest legal liability. It's not criminal to make up a fake volleyball career, but impersonating someone else for profit? Yeah.

January 19, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Testicle deprived invertebrate, My Kevin, in his obsequious kowtowing to a small group of terrorist traitors has not only given the store away, he’s gifted the keys of the store to bug-eyed loonies whose primary goal is to burn the fucking place to the ground.

It’s about as upside down Bizarro World as things can get. The Oversight and Accountability Committee has been handed over to conspiracy spewing, gun toting agents of chaos for whom the concept of accountability is as anathema as honoring their oath of office.

The Judiciary Committee is now under the rule (Gym Jordan) of a sexual abuse supporting scofflaw who thumbed his nose at a congressional subpoena issued to find out more about his role in stealing an open and fair election. How’s that for judicial?

And as bad as it is for these committees to be handed over to traitors and bellowing thugs, perhaps the most onerous giveaway is handing over the reins of the House Rules Committee to the obstructionist horde. The new lord of this vitally important body is Tom Cole (R-Traitor), a Muslim hating, insurrection supporting Trump water carrier. The Rules Committee decides which bills reach the floor for a vote, and how debate and voting will proceed. They can shut off any bills they don’t like and propel the worst and most ignorant ideas shooting out of Qanon butt cracks.

Basically, My Kevin has guaranteed that no governance will occur over the next two years. No legislation in service of the American people will escape the clutches of the Rules Committee. Meanwhile, the lawless firm of Boebert, Gosar, and Greene and the Unjust Committee, run by a jacketless traitor, will be holding kangaroo court “investigations” of every member of the Biden family, including the dogs, as well as any MOC who has ever dared to demand answers about their party’s role in treason.

Is already wild.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: Maybe it helps a person get on the House Judiciary Committee if he has (allegedly!) been at least complicit in the abuse of minors. Newly-minted member: Matt Gaetz.

January 19, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Well hey! Volleyball champion, knee replaced, Jew-ish, black, 9/11, Holocaust, Wall Street giant, service dog-killing fraudster, George, Anthony, Devolder, Santos, Joe Shit the Ragman, whatever his name is, finally has something on his resume that’s true:

Rio de Janeiro drag queen! Named Kitara (add that name to the list).

Funny, in’it? Republican bigots who are constantly screaming about drag queens corrupting kiddie story hours at libraries now sit next to one in Congress.

A Reuters story sez this about trying to get a comment from Representative Kitara:

“Emails to the congressman's press office and a newly hired communications director on Wednesday evening were not returned.”

Really? Nooo…haha. “Communications Director”. Imagine having that job for this guy? Talk about being busier than a one legged man at an ass kicking competition.

Sadly, Kitara lost in the drag queen competition to be named Miss Gay Rio de Janeiro. But he won a seat in the Republican controlled House! Dreams do come true, Kitara!

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/embattled-us-rep-santos-was-drag-queen-brazil-pageants-say-associates-2023-01-19/

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Marie,

Doubtless. Sexual abuse of minors seems to be a theme on that committee. Ahhh…the family values party!

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I'm thinking Kitara was actually a woman, not a drag queen. Then
before leaving Rio she had a sex change and became George, or
Anthony, or whoever.
Should have changed it to Kitaro, male version of Kitara.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrest Morris

@AK Of course they're the Family Values party. After all, isn't incest "The game the whole family can play"?

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

We wondered how bad it would get once the young gun from yesterday finally got the speakership. Now we know and now, under his leadership, if indeed we can call it that––-hell's a popping! It's like a cult, isn't it? Who or what is going to override this disaster? Will they self destruct? As David Jolly said last night: "The Republican Party has lost their fucking mind." Well, yes, if we can agree their minds were intact initially.

The drag queen outing is a hoot! He forgot to add this to his resume.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterP.D. Pepe

Marie,

Complete agreement on the latest SCOTUS kabuki. I thought the exact same thing when I heard the report. Most certainly they know. But this is one more example of how little control Roberts exerts over the court. The traitors do whatever the hell they want and he is powerless to put a stop to hit. He can’t even slow it down. Alito and Thomas have cut the brake line.

My initial thought was that Alito himself is responsible for the leak (yeah, I know, no members of the far right are responsible for anything; I’m using the term in a hypothetical sense). He wrote the thing. He has been waiting decades for this moment of supreme (so to speak) triumph over liberals, Democrats, pesky women’s rights types, and hated secularists.

This was his chance to Sneaky Pete the whole thing and to get an extra few weeks of lib-owning in. Plus, he could then play the VICTIM card and advance his standing as a Christian Warrior bravely holding the line against the vicious baby-killer onslaught. Remember that speech he gave not long after wherein he made jokes about foreign leaders who condemned his medieval decision? He LOVES this shit.

This isn’t to say that Gin-gin couldn’t have done it. She’s a conniving schemer of the first order.

Whoever it is, look for severe punishment for those employees who told their spouses about the decision (if they’re aligned with the liberal justices, that is), otherwise, it’s a complete mystery. Right?

🤥🫣💩

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

@Akhilleus: Good points, all. Alito's motive also might have been to nail Roberts, who was pushing some kind of compromise that would mostly, but not entirely, void Roe.

Maybe, Alito might have figured, if the public already knew that the majority opinion overturned Roe, Roberts would have to go along -- and more importantly, would be less able to pick off one of the other confederates to change the majority.

Sure 'nuf, that's what happened. By the time the opinions were officially released, Roberts had gone over to the dark side. He did write a separate opinion, but it was a concurring opinion, and the history books will say Dobbs was decided 6-3. Joan Biskupic of CNN has what seems to be an inside scoop on this dynamic.

January 19, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Too much time together here on RC perhaps, but my take on the still unsourced SCOTUS leak was the same...Sammy did it, but Roberts chose not to finger him for any number of reasons.

Roberts was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. I understand Roberts' uncomfortable position. I suspect he was disappointed not to find some lowly clerk to take the fall. Likely the clerks are more honorable than some of those robed yahoos.

Unfortunately for the Court, not revealing what they did find out does little to re-establish any of the credibility they've already lost.

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Was the marshall even allowed to actually question the justices? I have a tough time imagining her really questioning Thomas about Ginni or Alito about his dinner dates. "Hey boss, I've got a few questions for you..."

January 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS
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