;)
March 23, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
Robert McFadden of the New York Times: "Madeleine K. Albright, a child of Czech refugees who fled from Nazi invaders and Communist oppressors and then landed in the United States, where she flourished as a diplomat and the first woman to serve as secretary of state, died on Wednesday in Washington. She was 84."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "As the war in Ukraine is poised to enter its second month, the United States and its allies are marshaling a united front against ... Vladimir V. Putin..., pushing for tougher sanctions and moving to deploy more forces to Europe's eastern flank, even as they seek to prevent the war from metastasizing into a wider conflict. President Biden is set to land in Brussels on Wednesday evening and is expected to announce sanctions on Russian lawmakers before meeting with NATO allies and the European Union.... NATO's chief, Jens Stoltenberg, said on Wednesday that the alliance would double the number of battlegroups in its eastern flank by deploying four new battlegroups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, a significant bolstering of NATO's presence in the region. In recent days, Ukrainian forces have retaken ground in the northwestern suburbs of Kyiv, the capital, and around the southern Black Sea port of Mykolaiv, according to military analysts. Their advances have reinforced the sense that Russia is struggling in its efforts to overtake the country."
Alexander Smith & Yuliya Talmazan of NBC News: "An adviser to ... Vladimir Putin has become the first senior Kremlin official to quit since the invasion of Ukraine, Putin's spokesman said Wednesday. Anatoly Chubais left his role as Russia's envoy to international organizations and sustainable development of his own accord, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. The news was first reported by Bloomberg, which cited two people familiar with the situation saying Chubais had left Russia over his opposition to the war. Reuters also cited two anonymous sources saying he had left the country."
Sheera Frenkel & Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "As war has raged, the Kremlin's talking points and some right-wing discourse in the United States -- fueled by those on the far right -- have coalesced. On social media, podcasts and television, falsehoods about the invasion of Ukraine have flowed both ways, with Americans amplifying lies from Russians and the Kremlin spreading fabrications that festered in American forums online.... After ... Vladimir V. Putin ... claimed that action against Ukraine was taken in self-defense, the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and the conservative commentator Candace Owens repeated the assertion. When Mr. Putin insisted he was trying to 'denazify' Ukraine, Joe Oltmann, a far-right podcaster, and Lara Logan, another right-wing commentator, mirrored the idea. The echoing went the other way, too. Some far-right American news sites, like Infowars, stoked a longtime, unfounded Russian claim that the United States funded biological weapons labsin Ukraine. Russian officials seized on the chatter, with the Kremlin contending it had documentation of bioweapons programs that justified its 'special military operation' in Ukraine."
Marie: Here I was, awaiting Lindsey's Kwanzaa question: ~~~
~~~ Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) on Tuesday tried to make a point that Republicans were angry about how Democrats had questioned a previous GOP-backed Supreme Court nominee [-- Amy Barrett --] about her religion -- by questioning Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson at length about her own faith, then trying to reassure her after the fact that interrogations about her religion would not happen.... 'What faith are you, by the way?' [Graham asked.] Though it would be potentially illegal under federal law for an employer to ask a job candidate about their religious beliefs, Jackson started to respond that she was a nondenominational Protestant -- before Graham cut in and asked if she felt she could judge a Catholic person fairly.... Graham interrupted Jackson several ... times, as she tried to state that it was important to set aside one's personal views when considering cases. 'On a scale of 1 to 10, how faithful would you say you are, in terms of religion? You know, I go to church probably three times a year, so that speaks poorly of me. Or do you attend church regularly?'"~~~
~~~ Marie: No doubt Lindsey was hoping Jackson would blurt out that she was Muslim or that she was a member of the Santeria cult that reportedly sacrifices chickens in its religious ceremonies.
Paul Waldman of the Washington Post: "Republicans know they can't stop Ketanji Brown Jackson from being confirmed to the Supreme Court.... What they can do is use her confirmation hearings for other political purposes.... Some Republicans have chosen to do so with bad-faith attacks on Jackson; Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), in an apparent attempt to secure the QAnon vote when he runs for president, tore a few sentences in previous rulings and writings out of context to make the repulsive accusation that she is 'soft' on child porn. But so far, their clearest focus has been on their own victimization. You may be under the hot lights and being cross-examined, they are telling Jackson, but we are the real victims here.... Jackson will have to suffer through a few more sessions of Republicans beating their breasts about the terrible trials they have endured, with the gripping tale of Kavanaugh, that modern-day Job, told again and again."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "In the hours since [Sen. Marsha] Blackburn [asked Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson] on Tuesday night [to define 'woman,'] it's become a celebrated example on the political right of how beholden Jackson purportedly is to leftist subjectivism.... It was a cascade of bad faith, from Blackburn's question to the coverage to the response.... This question was one in a battery aimed solely at tripping Jackson up.... [Jackson's] declination to answer is not informative; it is expected. All that was gained was a way to disparage her in exactly the way that Blackburn did.... In fact, Blackburn even appeared to be reading from notes..., suggesting that she was ready for Jackson's response even if Jackson couldn't be." See related story, linked below.
New York Times reporters are live-blogging Wednesday's confirmation hearing for Judge Kentanji Jackson. Snark included, thankfully.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Wednesday are here: "Moderna said on Wednesday that it would seek emergency authorization of its coronavirus vaccine for children younger than 6, after interim results from its clinical trial showed that volunteers in that age group had a similar immune response to young adults when given a dose one-fourth as strong. But the firm said the vaccine proved only about 44 percent effective in preventing symptomatic illness among children 6 months to 2 years old, and 37 percent effective in children 2 through 5 years old. The company is studying the effectiveness of a booster shot, and one of its top officials said she expects a booster will be necessary for that age group, just as it is for adults."
Alabama Senate Race. Sad News: Trump Dump = No Mo Mo. Shane Goldmacher of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump retracted his endorsement of Representative Mo Brooks's bid for Senate in Alabama on Wednesday, abandoning one of his staunchest allies after months of simmering frustration and as polls showed Mr. Brooks falling behind in the state's Republican primary. In a sign of Mr. Trump's continued focus on the 2020 election, he cited Mr. Brooks's remarks at a rally last summer urging voters to move on from Mr. Trump's defeat.... In a last-ditch effort to keep Mr. Trump in his corner, Mr. Brooks, who spoke at the rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol in 2021, used footage from that speech in a new television ad last week. Looking straight into the camera, Mr. Brooks said in the ad, 'On January 6th, I proudly stood with President Trump in the fight against voter fraud.' But it was not enough. Mr. Trump still accused him on Wednesday of going 'woke.' Mr. Trump is obsessed with the success rate of his endorsement in Republican primaries...." Politico's story is here.
AP: "Former Trump adviser Paul Manafort was removed from a plane at Miami International Airport before it took off for Dubai because he carried a revoked passport, officials said Wednesday. Miami-Dade Police Detective Alvaro Zabaleta confirmed that Manafort was removed from the Emirates Airline flight without incident Sunday night but directed further questions to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. That agency did not immediately respond to an email Wednesday seeking comment."
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Putin's War Crimes, Ctd.
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Wednesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "The Pentagon confirmed it had seen indications of Ukraine's forces going on the offensive in a lopsided battle against a major power, after Kyiv announced it had retaken a town near the capital. A senior U.S. defense official told reporters it will be difficult 'to say that this marks ... some sort of major muscle movement' by the Ukrainian military. Russian forces ramped up an assault on the pummeled southern port city of Mariupol, shelling from the sea as new satellite images showed homes ablaze and factories razed. Despite the evacuation of Mariupol residents, about 100,000 people remain trapped -- many without food or water -- in a bitter siege that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky described as 'inhumane.'... In remarks Washington described as 'dangerous,' the Kremlin's spokesman refused to rule out the possibility that Russia could consider using nuclear weapons in the event of an 'existential threat' which he did not specify."
Chris Megerian & Aamer Madhani of the AP: "With Europe facing its most precarious future since World War II, President Joe Biden will huddle with key allies in Brussels and Warsaw this week as the leaders try to prevent Russia's war on Ukraine from spiraling into an even greater catastrophe.... Humanitarian challenges are growing as well. Millions of refugees have fled the fighting, mostly by crossing the border into Poland, and the war has jeopardized Ukraine's wheat and barley harvests, raising the possibility of rising hunger in impoverished areas around the globe. Jake Sullivan, Biden's national security adviser, said the president would coordinate with allies on military assistance for Ukraine and new sanctions on Russia. He added that Biden is working on long-term efforts to boost defenses in Eastern Europe, where more countries fear Russian aggression. The president is also aiming to reduce the continent's reliance on Russian energy."
Anton Troianovski & Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times: "In Russia, the slow going and the heavy toll of ... Vladimir V. Putin's war on Ukraine are setting off questions about his military's planning capability, his confidence in his top spies and loyal defense minister, and the quality of the intelligence that reaches him. It also shows the pitfalls of Mr. Putin's top-down governance, in which officials and military officers have little leeway to make their own decisions and adapt to developments in real time. The failures of Mr. Putin's campaign are apparent in the striking number of senior military commanders believed to have been killed in the fighting. Ukraine says it has killed at least six Russian generals, while Russia acknowledges one of their deaths, along with that of the deputy commander of its Black Sea fleet. The lack of progress is so apparent that a blame game has begun among some Russian supporters of the war -- even as Russian propaganda claims that the slog is a consequence of the military's care to avoid harming civilians."
Natasha Bertrand, et al., of CNN: "The US and NATO believe that Belarus could 'soon' join Russia in its war against Ukraine, US and NATO officials tell CNN, and that the country is already taking steps to do so. It is increasingly 'likely' that Belarus will enter the conflict, a NATO military official said on Monday. '(... Vladimir) Putin needs support. Anything would help,' the official explained. A Belarusian opposition source said that Belarusian combat units are ready to go into Ukraine as soon as in the next few days, with thousands of forces prepared to deploy. In this source's view, this would have less of an impact militarily than it will geopolitically, given the implications of another country joining the war."
The New York Times' live updates of developments Tuesday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Maria Varenikova & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Nearly a month into the fighting, one of the biggest surprises of the war in Ukraine is Russia's failure to defeat the Ukrainian Air Force. Military analysts had expected Russian forces to quickly destroy or paralyze Ukraine's air defenses and military aircraft, yet neither have happened. Instead, Top Gun-style aerial dogfights, rare in modern warfare, are now raging above the country.... The success of Ukrainian pilots has helped protect Ukrainian soldiers on the ground and prevented wider bombing in cities, since pilots have intercepted some Russian cruise missiles. Ukrainian officials also say the country's military has shot down 97 fixed-wing Russian aircraft. That number could not be verified but the crumpled remnants of Russian fighter jets have crashed into rivers, fields and houses.... Ukrainian fighter jets ... are vastly outnumbered: Russia is believed to fly some 200 sorties per day while Ukraine flies five to 10." (Also linked yesterday.)
Adela Suliman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Forest fires broke out around the Chernobyl nuclear site, Ukraine's parliament said Monday, raising fears that radiation could spread from the crippled facility. Ukraine's minister of natural resources later told the Associated Press that the fires had been extinguished, easing the immediate alarm. At least seven fires within the plant's exclusion zone had been observed on satellite imagery from the European Space Agency, the parliament said in a statement. The lawmakers blamed Russian forces who captured the site in February for the blazes." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mary Jalonick & Mark Sherman of the AP: "Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is returning to the Senate for a third day of hearings as Republicans try to paint her as soft on crime and Democrats herald the historic nature of her nomination to become the first Black woman on the high court." C-SPAN coverage begins at 9 am ET.
Cancun Ted, et al.: She's Black, Black, Blackety-Black-Black. Jonathan Weisman & Jazmine Ulloa of the New York Times: "After all of the entreaties from top Republicans to show respect at Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation hearings, Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday afternoon chose to grill the first Black woman nominated for the Supreme Court on her views on critical race theory and insinuate that she was soft on child sexual abuse. The message from the Texas Republican seemed clear: A Black woman vying for a lifetime appointment on the highest court in the land would, Mr. Cruz suggested, coddle criminals, go easy on pedophiles and subject white people to the view that they were, by nature, oppressors. The attack, the most dramatic of several launched from inside and outside the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing room, contained barely coded appeals to racism and clear nods to the fringes of the conservative world. Two other Republican senators, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, had already signaled they would go after Judge Jackson by accusing her of having a soft spot for criminals, especially pedophiles, and an allegiance to 'woke' racialized education. Senator Tom Cotton, Republican of Arkansas, also pressed the issue on Tuesday night. None of those issues were connected to cases coming before the Supreme Court -- or to cases ever decided by the court."
Seung Min Kim, et al., of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson forcefully defended her approach to sentencing Tuesday amid allegations from some Republicans that she has been too lenient in sex offense cases involving minors, an exchange that provided the most tense and emotional moments of a day-long confirmation hearing.... The suggestion that Jackson had gone easy on sex offenders was leveled most vociferously Tuesday by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).... 'Hawley's embarrassing, QAnon-signaling smear has been fact checked by' several news organizations, White House spokesman Andrew Bates tweeted as Hawley began his questioning Tuesday afternoon.'"
Josh Gerstein & Marianne Levine of Politico: "Republicans unloaded a broad arsenal of attacks on Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson on Tuesday, confronting her on issues ranging from her sentences for child pornography defendants to her representation of Guantanamo Bay inmates to alleged acts of judicial activism. But as the hearing passed the 12-hour mark, Jackson seemed largely unruffled. In a few instances, her irritation with the questioning led to responses delivered 'with all due respect' when it seemed she didn't think much respect was due.... Here's a look at some of the most notable exchanges and themes to emerge on Jackson's first day of grilling[.]"
Myah Ward of Politico: "As the confirmation hearing for Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson went into hour 13, Sen. Marsha Blackburn asked the Supreme Court nominee on Tuesday to define the word 'woman.' 'I can't -- ' Jackson replied. 'You can't?' Blackburn said. 'Not in this context. I'm not a biologist,' Jackson said. 'The meaning of the word woman is so unclear and controversial that you can't give me a definition?' Blackburn asked. The Tennessee Republican's line of questioning hit on nearly every political hot-button issue, from critical race theory to teaching children about gender identity in schools to Lia Thomas, a transgender swimmer on the University of Pennsylvania's women's team. Jackson said her role as a judge would be to address disputes about a definition and to interpret the law. 'The fact that you can't give me a straight answer about something as fundamental as what a woman is underscores the dangers of the kind of progressive education that we are hearing about,' Blackburn said...."
New York Times reporters are live-updating the questioning/posturing in the Senate confirmation hearing of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Also linked yesterday.)
Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that he would be open to the Supreme Court overturning its 1967 ruling that legalized interracial marriage nationwide to allow states to independently decide the issue. Braun -- who made the comments during a conference call in which he discussed the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court -- also said he'd welcome the rescinding of several key decisions made by the court in the past 70 years to pass the power to the states.... In a statement to The Washington Post after the conference call, Braun said he 'misunderstood' the reporter's questions on Loving and stressed that he opposes racism." ~~~
~~~ Marie: So in addressing the nomination of a woman who is in an interracial marriage, Braun said he thought states should decide whether or not interracial couples are allowed to marry. But he's against racism! Braun, IMO, has two possible defenses: (1) he didn't know what Loving v. Virginia was about, and/or (2) bad audio connection! ~~~
~~~ BUT. Kaitlin Lange of the Indy Star makes it clear in her report of the exchange between Braun & the reporter that Braun understood and heard the question and responded at length to it. ~~~
~~~ AND Dan Cardin of the Times of Northwest Indiana: "Specifically concerning interracial marriage, Braun rejected the reasoning of a unanimous Supreme Court that the freedom to marry is a fundamental constitutional right and states depriving Americans of it on an arbitrary basis, such as race, is unconstitutional. He acknowledged leaving such a question to states is likely to lead to situations where a marriage may be recognized in one state and not in another, but he shrugged it off as 'the beauty of the system.' 'This should be something where the expression of individual states are able to weigh-in on these issues through their own legislation, through their own court systems. Quit trying to put the federal government in charge,' Braun said.... Braun later walked back his comments by claiming he misunderstood the question, despite the question being asked multiple times in different ways to ensure Braun meant and understood what he said concerning interracial marriage."
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Fox "News" star Sean Hannity took pains Tuesday night to prove that he is not parroting Russian propaganda; rather, Russian propagandists are parroting him.
The Pandemic, Ctd.
The New York Times' live updates of Covid-19 developments Tuesday are here: "A judge on New York State's highest court could face removal from the bench for failing to comply with the state's Covid vaccination mandate, according to court guidelines and state officials. Jenny Rivera, an associate judge on the state Court of Appeals, has participated remotely in the court's activities since the fall, when the state court system's vaccination mandate took effect and unvaccinated employees were barred from court facilities. She is now one of four state judges who face referral to the state's Commission on Judicial Conduct...."
Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced Tuesday that she had tested positive for Covid-19, and was 'feeling fine' despite some mild symptoms. 'I'm more grateful than ever for the protection vaccines can provide against serious illness. Please get vaccinated and boosted if you haven't already!' Clinton, 74, said in a pair of tweets. She said her husband, former President Bill Clinton, 75, tested negative 'and is feeling fine. He's quarantining until our household is fully in the clear. Movie recommendations appreciated!'"
Kaitlan Connis & Maegan Vazquez of CNN: "White House press secretary Jen Psaki announced on Tuesday that she has tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time and is experiencing mild symptoms, less than one day before President Joe Biden is scheduled to depart for his trip to Brussels and Warsaw."
Beyond the Beltway
Nevada Senate Race. Nick Corasaniti, et al., of the New York Times: "Nevadans still have 231 days until they head to the polls in November. But Adam Laxalt, the former attorney general of Nevada and a Republican candidate for Senate, is already laying detailed groundwork to fight election fraud in his race -- long before a single vote has been cast or counted. In conversations with voters at an event at his campaign headquarters this month, Laxalt explained how he's vetting outside groups to help him establish election observer teams and map out a litigation strategy. 'I don't talk about that, but we're vetting which group we think is going to do better,' Laxalt told an attendee, according to an audio recording obtained by The New York Times from a person who attended the event and opposes Laxalt's candidacy."
Oklahoma. Hicham Raache of KFOR TV: "The Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a measure Tuesday that would be a near total ban on abortions if signed into law. House Bill 4327 calls for a near total ban on abortions in Oklahoma and allows private citizens to sue any doctors who perform abortions."
Utah. Eduardo Medina of the New York Times: "Gov. Spencer Cox of Utah vetoed a bill on Tuesday that would have barred young transgender athletes from participating in girls' sports, becoming the second Republican governor in two days to reject such legislation. Republican legislators, however, plan to override the veto on Friday, State Senator J. Stuart Adams, a Republican, said in a statement.... Three state legislatures -- in Kansas, Louisiana and North Dakota -- passed similar bills targeting transgender athletes last year that were ultimately vetoed by their governors. And on Monday, Gov. Eric Holcomb of Indiana, a Republican, vetoed a similar bill, saying it would likely have been challenged in court and would not have solved any pressing issue."
Way Beyond
Russia. Anton Troianovski & Valeriya Safronova of the New York Times: "A Russian court sentenced Aleksei A. Navalny to nine years in a high-security prison on Tuesday, imposing a new punishment on the imprisoned opposition leader at a time when the war in Ukraine has made him even more of a liability for ... Vladimir V. Putin. Prosecutors had claimed that Mr. Navalny, a relentless critic and frequent target of Mr. Putin, and Mr. Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation -- which the Russian authorities banned as extremist last year -- had embezzled donations from supporters.... The fraud case was widely seen as a move by the Kremlin to keep him behind bars...." (Also linked yesterday.)
News Ledes
New York Times: "Rescuers found one of the flight recorders of the Boeing 737 plane that crashed in southern China with more than 130 people on board, officials said Wednesday, as regulators and the airline faced growing pressure to release more information about the disaster. Search efforts have been underway since the plane plummeted into a rural mountainside on Monday. The device recovered from the China Eastern Airlines plane was believed to be the cockpit voice recorder, officials said during a brief news conference on Wednesday. More fragments of the aircraft and body parts were also recovered, they added. No survivors have been found, and it is increasingly unlikely that anyone on board made it out alive."
CBS News: "A tornado tore through parts of New Orleans and its suburbs Tuesday night, flipping cars, ripping roofs off homes and killing at least one person.... Parts of St. Bernard Parish, which borders New Orleans to the southeast, appeared to take the brunt of the weather's fury, and that's where the fatality occurred.... Other funnels spawned by the same storm system had hit parts of Texas and Oklahoma, killing one person Monday and causing multiple injuries and widespread damage." A New York Times story is here.
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Reader Comments (26)
By no means does Putin have a lock on bullshit.
From above:
"The lack of (battlefield) progress is so apparent that a blame game has begun among some Russian supporters of the war — even as Russian propaganda claims that the slog is a consequence of the military’s care to avoid harming civilians."
Kinda like Bush II's "Healthy Forest Initiative," whose purpose (of course) was to make it easier for timber companies to cut more trees...
Maybe lying gets easier the farther your wishes and beliefs are from reality. When you already live in Fantasyland, there is no bridge too far.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/03/22/principles-sanctimony/
Need early morning help with the Critical Race Theory position, if anyone could provide some..
Otherwise, kinda like the whole Kama Sutra idea.
“Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that he would be open to the Supreme Court overturning its 1967 ruling that legalized interracial marriage.
I wonder how Justice Thomas would rule on this?
You know, there’s slimy, and then there’s Ted Cruz slimy. You can just see the “I’m so smart” look on his puss right through the radio. But his tricks are those of a half-smart con man. In other words, he crumbs the plate. Transparency is good in financial dealings and relationships, but not when you’re running a con. Luckily, the person he picked out for his “mark”, Judge Jackson, has real smarts. And decency.
Since they really have nothing on Judge Jackson, the traitorous charlatans representing the whole Party of Traitors, decided to try to besmirch her via snide insinuation, bullying, and back door mendacity. In the case of Cancun Ted Cruz, since he couldn’t touch her legal abilities and knowledge, he being a lifelong winger hack and she being an actual working lawyer/judge, he decided to attack her for stuff that has nothing to do with her job.
Cover your ears kids, I’m about to spit out some dirty words:
CRITICAL RACE THEORY!
Jesus, fuck! Get the smelling salts! Confederates are dropping in the aisles!
I’m gonna stipulate right up front that Cruz doesn’t understand the first syllable of CRT. But since when does that matter? Instead, he uses the Foxified definition of CRT: blacks want to kill all whites! Everything is about how whiny blacks see everything as racial attacks. “Could you please pass the salt?” “Aieeee! A racist!”
This isn’t even an exaggeration.
So here’s what Ted the Clown does. First, he assails Judge Jackson for sitting on the board of a school in DC where some books in the library address racial issues. To Ted, this is beyond the pale. Or maybe should be under the pail. To “prove” how awful, bad, no good, white-hating, and dangerous blacky-black all this is, he does what charlatans typically do who can’t make a legitimate point. He cherry picks parts of the books and, in his best stentorian yelp, reads them out to scare wingers all across the country into believing that, should Jackson make it to the court, she will inject these scary bits into the lives of all (white) children in America! Oh noes!
So, a word about this very sleazy but transparent carny trick. You can cherry pick any piece of great literature in order to make it seem salacious and dangerous. “Huckleberry Finn”! Just pick out passages with the N word, or scenes of drinking and violence. Just think what you could do with “Ulysses”! Christ, you could make Shakespeare sound like an under the counter pornographer.
And this is the tack taken by half-smart Ted.
But very smart Judge Jackson calmly explained to little Teddy, as he became more and more outraged by his own carny trick (its a dead giveaway when you see these clowns become so impressed at their own brilliance), that first, she serves in an advisory capacity at the school. A PRIVATE school. Second, critical race theory is not taught in elementary schools. Third, it has nothing whatsoever to do with her job as a judge; she has never once had to rule on it.
None of which matters to Ted the Clown, however. I’m sure he got high fives all around from his KKK brethren.
But CRT has proven to be a successful scare tactic (it got a racist moron elected in Virginia) and these guys are gonna beat on it like a punching bag at Gold’s Gym.
As is often the case when a smarmy little prick tries to put one over on someone far smarter and wiser, he’s the one who looks stupid. Jackson, composed and unflappable, came off looking sage and judicious. Cruz just looked soft and sad. And desperate. Maybe time for another vacay in Cancun.
One more thing about critical race theory. It’s not about seeing all white people as racists. It’s an academic examination of the role racism has played historically (and currently) in society, and it’s effects on education, housing, employment, and government policies. It’s an entirely valid field of study. Interestingly, the more assholes like Cruz and Hawley, and this other meathead, Braun, attack black Americans, for being, well, black, the more there is a need to investigate the role of racism in America.
But here’s the other thing. We’ve already had a critical race theory operating in this country since before it was a nation. It’s called white supremacy. Remember when the Traitors attacked Biden for saying he was going to put a black woman on the court? Break out the fainting couches! OMG! We can’t have a requirement involving race and gender?
No?
How about for the first 170 years or so, the requirements were “white” and “male”. No chance for anyone else.
The fact that these people see nothing wrong with that is a perfect topic for consideration using…critical race theory.
Nuff said.
Dan,
Good one.
It’s one of the best historical (and historic) coincidences that the case that allowed blacks and whites to marry legally in this country was “Loving v Virginia.
Hey! Another topic for critical race theory!
Yes, to all Ak just said. The "hearing" this morning began right on the dot of Whiney o'clock. Such "concerns," such picking of words, such victimhood for "this side of the aisle" Hawley, such congratulations to Democrats that they haven't been as mean as they were to poor Bart O'Beer, such "no one gave us the statistics the evil Democrats got" kvetching, oooh f***, "you guys aren't playing fair..." I will hence be unable to listen to much of the ire directed at Dick Durban for "editorializing" (Cornyn is only marginally less dumb than the list I mentioned yesterday) during his chairman's time. They would much rather leave selfish accusations ringing in the air than risk Democrats refuting the nonfacts they traffic in. Apparently I missed the new idiocy of letting states redecide whether interracial marriage is legal within the gated communities/red states that the current Confederacy is trafficking in, amongst the rest of the idiocies.
Well, after the 30-minute initial diatribes are over, after good ol' Tom Tillis whines and accuses, there are additional 20-minute cases allowed for dumping this uppity black woman judge...heaven help us. There is no excuse for congress. None whatsoever.
Because the Repugs are graceless and incompetent not a one has made the most subtle sotto voce mention of the fact that KBJ's confirmation will make not the tiniest difference in the political (GASP) makeup of the Court. It will remain conservative leaning. The end. Full stop.
The above R.C. coverage of the Jackson hearings sums up the "I ain't got nothin so I gotta make up somethin" bunch of cockwombles. I found Tom Cotton's badgering of Jackson the worst––but she didn't budge and handled him like one would handle a smart alecky five year old who tries to con his mother.
I haven't seen the exchange with our mint tulip turd but from all your descriptions it was pretty awful––-interesting to me that he would go there given that the last two Catholics on the bench had those crosses to bear, so to speak–-praise Jesus.
Cory Booker ended the hearings last night with a marvelous back and forth with Jackson–-lots of laughs and warmth––something so sorely missing from the other side.
NJC,
As I mentioned before, this is perhaps one of the most emblematic signs of Republican viciousness. The ascendancy of Jackson to the high court won’t do anything to stop the judicial carnage currently being perpetrated by the traitors, but they can’t help themselves. She’s a woman, a Democrat, and black. They HAVE TO go after her, if for no other reason than to demonstrate to the thugs, loonies, and haters that make up their base, that they are manly white men who ain’t gonna stand fer no black lady tellin’ then and all other god-fearin’ white supremacists what to do.
Cruelty and viciousness is how they roll. These are essential qualities of the way they see the world.
Josh Hawley is a creep.
Dan: The thing with Thomas is that he doesn't have to live in the South or Midwest so the interracial marriage bans will not affect him.
I'm waiting for Lindsey to ask a question similar to the weird one he asked of Elena Kagan during her confirmation hearings: "What do you do on Christmas?" Needless to say, what Elena Kagan does on Christmas, unless it's smashing plastic nativity lawn decorations or something, has not one thing to do with whether or not she is fit to serve on the Supreme Court. Kagan replied, "Like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant."
The analogous question to Jackson would be something like, "What do you do during Hanukkah?" but I expect Lindsey to ask, "What do you do on Kwanzaa?" Because it's very important for Lindsey to establish that Democratic nominees are in some way "not like us." I really can't stand these Rethuglicans.
THE LADY AND THE DOG:
Yesterday I mentioned our taking care of Onyx ( AK: he was one of many in a litter in which the owner named each one after a gem) but today I'm thinking about that iconic picture of Angela Merkel sitting across Putin during a meeting in his home in Jan. 2007. Merkel was terrified of dogs and Putin knew that, therefore he summoned his HUGE black Lab, Koni, into the room. This being the kind of power play and intimidation he exhibits so well.
Fintan O'Toole, in his review of a book on Merkel says this about the meeting:
Yet [Merkel] "surely realized also that this was a back handed compliment. Putin had taken the trouble to think about her as a person, deploying his KGB training to imagine what might make her vulnerable to coercion. The trick did not work, because Merkel had a remarkable gift for not taking things personally, and also a woman's skepticism about male display. " I understand why he has to do this–to prove he's a man,'" she told a group of reporters, "He's afraid of his own weakness. Russia has nothing, no successful politics or economy. All they have is this.'"
It does not seem too much of a stretch then, to see Putin's ratcheting up of his long war on Ukraine as another backhanded compliment to Merkel. As O'Toole figures, when Putin learns of Merkel's leaving. His build up to his invasion of Ukraine began in in November 2021, just as her chancellorship was winding down. What better moment to test the nerve of Western Europe and of the wider NATO alliance.
So when the lady departed, the man with dog began his grab. I wonder how many haven't realized how quietly powerful this woman was––-and what a spunky, clever human being she is. My guess, is Putin knew very well.
All this harping by Howley about child porn just makes me think, "Thou doth protesteth too much."
Is he another presentation of repuglican projection?
@RAS: like many Republicans, Hawley seems to be confused about his sexuality, and he expresses that confusion in ways he thinks will pass as socially acceptable -- like obsessing about the evils of child pornography and talking about it a lot. Accusing others of engaging in or encouraging child pornography is his way of deflecting attention from his own interest in it. I'll bet it was way fun for him to pore over those Jackson sentencing decisions on child pornographers.
That poster Hawley hung above his dorm-room bed suggests both child molestation (the baby looks terrified, IMO) & -- because it's Hawley's poster -- homoeroticism (the guy is pretty hunky). I can't see how the poster in any way reflects a "fervent stance against abortion."
Dr. Marie Burns, Famous Self-certified Amateur Psychologist
BTW, Mehdi Hasen's mash-up of Kavanaugh's & Jackson's responses to questions that digby embeds at RAS's link is worth watching.
The Got Nuttin' Party does have one thing to sell. It alway has: Fear.
And its long list of things to fear has a lengthy pedigree
Because history began for me with my birth in post WWII America, I was first taught to be afraid of Communism. That fear animated the GNP throughout the 1950's.
Then came the 60's and the closely related fear of anti-war "anarchists," (maybe more fundamentally the fear that those protestors might have been right about our bloody anti-Communist Vietnam crusade) which soon morphed into the party leaping aboard the "law and order" train, a ride which applied equally well to those who threatened the nation by daring to "break the law" to protest racial injustice.
There was so much to fear in those years. The Southern Strategy soon emerged. With the creation of the EPA, it was not long before we first heard about eco-terrorists and tree-huggers, more boogeymen who in the name of environmental sanity were really attacking the American Way of Life (truth be told, in a way they were).
And always, always, in the background, socialism...the beastie that could somehow take away what is rightfully mine because I earned it and they didn't.
Guns, god, gays. We're familiar enough with those. They're still there, making making loud noises at yesterday's SCOTUS hearings.
What else? Inevitable demographic and social change have added some new names the old line-up.
CRT and all those confusing gender issues do exist, but disturbing realities are not enough. We'll make some up. Our favorite: Voter fraud that doesn't exist, because also looming in the background--the fearsome ogre of white minority status. Nothing more un-American than that.
The beat (bleat?) goes on....
Roosevelt did have it right. We do have nothing to fear but fear itself.
The GNP is really, really scary.
PD,
I’m reminded of Merkel’s interaction with another insecure, authoritarian prick. There’s a famous photograph, I’m sure you’ve all seen it, taken at the G7 summit a few years ago. Merkel is standing, arms extended on a table in a dominant stance, leaning in to confront Fatty, who is sitting, leaning back, arms crossed, a classic defensive posture, glaring up at this woman who refuses to accept his superior role. Except that it’s Trump who is in a crouching, guarded, submissive position, sitting back like the petulant child he is. Such a fraud. Of course Trump, after he was safely back in the states, brayed that the picture demonstrated his leadership and strength. Um, no, stupid. It showed you looking like a scared little boy.
And in local news:
https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/farm-worker-strike-skagit-valley-tulip-festival/281-86d05687-6ab7-4d9d-9f94-8c9eb9c924b4
And employees at a Seattle Starbucks' voted to unionize...
Apology
No, not that kind; the Platonic kind. Well, not exactly that either, but....
Okay, so here's the thing. The grilling being handed out by confederates (this, I assume is them being "nice") to Judge Jackson reminded me this morning, as I was socking down a little Socrates, of Plato's Apology, the dialogue covering the trial of Socrates.
The old man was accused of a bunch of nasty stuff, corrupting the youth, impiety (the wrong kind of gods, not the standard line up, I guess), sophistry, and some other crap.
Actually, what he was really on trial for was making the bigwigs look stoopid and confounding their bullshit, baseless opinions. Now I'll admit, as a young man, I was a fan of Socrates (but then again, I also frequented a restaurant/bar owned by a guy named Socrates, so there was that...). These days, as I peruse the Platonic peregrinations, I sometimes find old Socs a tad annoying. At times. And guess what? So did the Athenians.
Here you have this old guy, unemployed, a little smelly, wandering around town, going up to highly decorated Athenian generals and hoity-toity politicians asking them what they think about some topic. When they give him their canned, boilerplate responses, Socrates tears apart their argument and proves that they don't know shit about it, and that their thinking is not only flawed, but folded, spindled, and mutilated. This did not make him a ton of friends. So they wanted him dead. Hemlocky dead.
The point here, and Socrates' point, especially about the examined and unexamined life, is the importance of clear thinking. Critical thinking was originally the idea behind the study of the humanities (philosophy included). But over the last generation, a movement, pushed largely by the right, was "Fuck that shit. Teach stuff that will make us money." Period.
The Socratic Method has long been used to interrogate a student's preconceptions and allow him or her to arrive at a more critically accurate, and useful, way of thinking. Unfortunately, rightwingers don't give a shit about critical thinking. Why would they? Teaching citizens to think well could allow the unmasking of the petrified dung they put forward as thoughtful policy positions. So, better to substitute bumper sticker blasts for serious, thoughtful positions.
With us or against us. Lock her up. Build the wall. Drain the swamp. Just say no. Iraqi Freedom! Blah, blah, blah.
And so it is with the Jackson hearings. It's so much easier (and politically valuable with the droolers) to go on about "So, Judge, when did you first fall in love with child pornography?" than it is to try to understand and appreciate the nuanced positions and responsibilities of a judge she tirelessly outlines for the assholes.
Corrupting youth? Critical race theory. Impiety? What about your religion? Being a pain in the ass? "Thank you, Senator Cruz for allowing me to demonstrate what a blithering idiot you are."
I'm not suggesting that Jackson is Socrates but that a similar process is in place. They don't like her. In fact, they hate her. So let's indulge in fake claims and try her in the court of public opinion as someone who will destroy the country. Forget serious discussions about issues of great import to the nation. Get my face on Fox at 11!
One more thing about Socrates. As I go back through the dialogues, I find myself questioning his positions (not a lot, but here and there). His thought process is occasionally a tad too...how shall I put it? Antiseptic, or overly logical. So at one point in the Apology, defending himself against the charge of corrupting the population, he says something like "Are you guys soft? Who would do that? First, if you instill corruption, you are likely to be hurt by it somewhere down the line. Why would I countenance that? No one does evil intentionally." Whoa...Nellie....! Full stop.
Plenty of rat bastards do exactly that.
Just listen to these hearings. Listen to Fatty bleat on about pretty much anything. Watch those turtle eyes and that Mephisto grin whenever Moscow Mitch is up to something. Intentional Evil is an essential line of code in their operating system.
Sorry, Socs. But, if it's any comfort, you did get screwed. As for Jackson, sorry, Judge, but there will be no apologies from the screwees.
Oops, my critical thinking cap is askew. I should have written "no apologies from the screwers". Crap.
From 2010:
A SESSION WITH SESSIONS
Senator Sessions: So I understand that on Christmas Day you celebrate by eating at a Chinese restaurant. Isn't that somewhat radical?
Kagan: No, actually it is not, Senator Sessions, I ąm Jewish. That's what we do on Christmas day.
S: Well, Ms. Kagan, that is not what this Christian nation does on Christmas Day, so I would conclude your practice is somewhat radical, to say the least. Now, I also understand you prefer pistachio ice cream, is that not true?
K: It is, Senator.
S: Well, I find that, too, very unusual. I mean, I could go with butter
crunch or chocolate almond, but pistachio is definitely not in the main
stream. Don't you agree?
K: I do, senator. But may I say something about this?
S: Of course, say ahead.
K: When I was younger, I liked vanilla. You see young taste buds are
delicate, so vanilla was perfect. Then as I got older I found chocolate to my liking, my taste buds having matured somewhat. From chocolate I did go to other flavors, but I found pistachio really hit the spot. And that special spot, Senator Sessions, is where I am, like it or leave it.
S: Well, Ms. Kagan, I ąm afraid I have to leave it seeing that you are
getting very uppity for someone who has not even sat on a bench. And your love for pistachio is an indication of your very progressive nature. By the way, do you like your ice cream in a sugared cone or plain.
K: I have neither, senator, I have it in a lovely glass dish that once
belonged to my mother.
S: Just as I thought. Again, out of the mainstream, coupled with a lot of sentimental mush. My time is up. but I do want to wish you the best, Ms Kagan, even though you will never get my vote.
K: Thank you, Senator Sessions, it has not been a pleasure but if you ever find yourself at loose ends on a Christmas Day you would be welcome to join my Jewish friends and family at that Chinese restaurant. And by the way, you never got to sit on the bench either, did you?
The other day, Marie observed that plan B for whiny bully boys is to start screaming.
Quite. And we saw that very thing today. When the incredibly demagogic, execrable Ted Cruz, screamed at the chairman, Dick Durbin, demanding, after he had already used up all his time, that he be allowed to continue his fact free philippic against a judge whose experience, knowledge, and decency outstrips his own by light years.
He’s lucky Durbin held the gavel. If it had been me, I’d have told him to sit his lazy, demagogue ass down and shut the fuck up.
Here’s the thing. These traitors rely on the decency of Democrats to allow them to get away with being weeping anal cysts. Cruz demanded he be accorded the courtesy to continue his astonishingly discourteous attacks.
Even after being gaveled down, he continued to scream. I’m sure he thinks this will make him a hero to the supporters of treason, authoritarianism, and racism.
Sadly, he’s correct.
PD,
You almost Andy Boriwitzed me with that one. Sadly, your dialogue is not far off the inane and stoopid basis for R attacks. They got nothing, so whine about pistachio while they twirl their mustachios.
The really astonishing thing is that, listening to Democrats relating Jackson’s background and history (factual, that is), it’s clear that she comes across as exceptionally qualified both by experience and temperament (unlike, say, whiny, lying, beery Bart). But listening to he treasonous demagogues, it sounds like she should be locked up and denied a position as a crossing guard.
They can’t just disagree with her, she has to be evil.
Okay, one more, then I’m done.
Putin butt boy, Sean Hannity, is wicked pissed. He’s been accused of repeating baseless Russian propaganda attacks on the US president.
“No”, screams Order of Lenin recipient Sean. “They’re stealing MY baseless propaganda attacks on the US president. Let’s have a little credit, shall we?”
Oh, okay. Cuz that’s sooo much better. Fox propagandist aids Putin’s War on Ukraine and attempts to smear a sitting American president. Got it. Gee, for a minute there he sounded just like a traitorous mouthpiece for a foreign power committed to destroying America. In fact, HE’s the guy trying to personally destroy America.
Yeah. That’s a lot better.
AK: the dialogue above between Sessions and Kagan is not too far off the REAL––-they did discuss the ice cream and her mother's dish along, of course, the Jewish Christmas that Sessions indeed found "non-christian" and the ending is exactly what they both said.