;)
The Conversation -- August 17, 2023
Spirit Animals Are Attacking Jeff Clark. Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post: "Jeffrey Clark, a former top Justice Department official under Donald Trump, is posting online about supernatural beings in the wake of his racketeering indictment in Georgia.... 'Today witches, spiritists, mediums, those with spirit animals, and Ukrainian NPCs resumed their attacks on me,' Clark wrote on X-...Twitter, on Wednesday." MB: Do you suppose Clark is working up an insanity defense?
Katherine Faulders & Jonathan Karl of ABC News: "... Donald Trump's promised press conference to refute the allegations in the indictment handed up by the Fulton County District Attorney's Office is now very much in doubt.... Trump's legal advisers have told him that holding such a press conference with dubious claims of voter fraud will only complicate his legal problems and some of his attorneys have advised him to cancel it." MB: Darn, because I thought telling more of the same lies that led to federal and state indictments was a brilliant idea. Trump should fire his lawyers for taking away his First Amendment rights. And election interference! And whatever!
Presidential Race 2024. Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Ron DeSantis needs 'to take a sledgehammer' to Vivek Ramaswamy, the political newcomer who is rising in the polls. He should 'defend Donald Trump' when Chris Christie inevitably attacks the former president. And he needs to 'attack Joe Biden and the media' no less than three to five times. A firm associated with the super PAC that has effectively taken over Mr. DeSantis's presidential campaign posted online hundreds of pages of blunt advice, research memos and internal polling in early nominating states to guide the Florida governor ahead of the high-stakes Republican presidential debate next Wednesday in Milwaukee.... Super PACs are barred by law from strategizing in private with political campaigns. To avoid running afoul of those rules, it is not unusual for the outside groups to post polling documents in the open, albeit in an obscure corner of the internet where insiders know to look.... But it is unusual, as appears to be the case, for a super PAC, or a consulting firm working for it, to post documents on its own website...."
~~~~~~~~~~
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden staged a day of celebration on Wednesday to herald the reduction in inflation and the Inflation Reduction Act even though experts believe one had little to do with the other. Mr. Biden hosted a boisterous ceremony in the East Room of the White House while allies and aides conducted briefings, gave speeches, published newspaper articles, sent emails, went on television and distributed talking points to mark the first anniversary of the Inflation Reduction Act, the major climate and energy law that is one of the signature accomplishments of his presidency. The fact that the anniversary came at the same time as a significant decrease in the inflation rate was more happy coincidence than anything else, say economists, who attribute it more to the Federal Reserve's interest rate increases and other factors. The legislation did plenty of important things in terms of investing in clean energy, raising corporate taxes and curbing prescription drug prices. But it was not really about inflation. As even Mr. Biden implicitly conceded last week, the name of the bill was more about political branding than policy goals."
Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader, said Wednesday that he and Speaker Kevin McCarthy had agreed that a bill to temporarily fund the government is necessary in order to stave off the possibility of an impending government shutdown on Oct. 1 and keep the government funded through early December. But his comments were also an acknowledgment that Congress remains far from reaching any agreement on spending levels that would keep the government running on a longer-term basis. 'Speaker McCarthy and I met a few weeks back, and we agreed we should do what's called a C.R. -- in other words, a congressional resolution where you just extend the existing funding for a few months so we could work this out,' Mr. Schumer said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.'"
Trump Crime Blotter
Olivia Rubin of ABC News: "Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has proposed a March start date for the trial of ... Donald Trump and 18 others on charges related to efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. The proposed pretrial scheduling order, filed on Wednesday, proposes a start date of March 4. The date is one day before Super Tuesday in the 2024 presidential race...."
This Is Irritating. Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: According to the local sheriff, defendants in the case will be processed in the Fulton County Jail where "they would undergo a medical screening, be fingerprinted and have mug shots taken, and could spend time in a holding cell at the jail, weeks after the Justice Department announced an investigation for what it called 'serious allegations of unsafe, unsanitary living conditions' there.... But whether Mr. Trump himself is processed there will very likely depend on the Secret Service.... The Rice Street jail is not a place for the faint of heart, said Robert G. Rubin, a veteran defense lawyer.... In recent weeks, two inmates have been found dead at the jail. Last year, a detainee was found dead in his cell, his body covered in bites from bed bugs and other insects, according to his lawyer.... 'It's miserable. It's cold. It smells. It's just generally unpleasant,' he said, relying on his clients' past descriptions." Emphasis added. ~~~
~~~ Marie BTW: Yesterday, when it seemed Trump would be booked at the jail, I suggested there was a C&W song asking to be written about it, and contributor Patrick came up with some great lyrics (see Comments thread). We aren't the first to find the Fulton County jail a source of artistic inspiration. According to the Times report, "At least two songs on Spotify are titled '901 Rice Street,' the jail's address. The popular rapper Latto has a song whose title refers to Rice Street with an expletive. And a line from a Killer Mike rap goes, 'Locked in like Rice Street without a bond.'"
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's defenses against his four indictments are, characteristically, absolutist. The phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), which undergirds Trump's newest indictment, was a 'perfect phone call.' The 91 criminal charges against Trump aren't just overzealous but born of meritless 'witch hunts.' Bristling at a question about a hypothetical plea deal in Georgia, Trump said, 'We did nothing wrong.'... Increasingly, few Americans actually believe Trump did 'nothing' wrong, according to new polling. And while Republicans overwhelmingly say they don't think Trump broke the law, most -- even a very strong majority -- fault him in some measure."
Trump Revises a Toxic Racist Slur to Attack Georgia Grand Jurors. Blayne Alexander & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "The purported names and addresses of members of the grand jury that indicted Donald Trump and 18 of his co-defendants on state racketeering charges this week have been posted on a fringe website that often features violent rhetoric, NBC News has learned. NBC News is choosing not to name the website featuring the addresses to avoid further spreading the information.... The indictment issued Monday lists the names of the grand jury members but not their addresses or other personal information. Tuesday -- after Trump posted on his social media website that authorities were going 'after those that fought to find the RIGGERS!' -- Advance Democracy said Trump supporters were 'using the term "rigger" in lieu of a racial slur' in posts.... 'These jurors have signed their death warrant by falsely indicting President Trump,' a post on a pro-Trump forum read in response to a post including the names of jurors, which was viewed by NBC News."
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A Texas woman has been charged with threatening to kill Tanya S. Chutkan, the federal judge in Washington who is overseeing ... Donald J. Trump's prosecution on charges of seeking to overturn the 2020 election. The woman, Abigail Jo Shry, of Alvin, Texas, called Judge Chutkan's chambers on Aug. 5, two days after Mr. Trump was arraigned on the election interference charges, and left a voice mail message attacking the judge, who is Black, with a racial slur, according to a criminal complaint unsealed on Friday. In the message, Ms. Shry told Judge Chutkan, 'If Trump doesn't get elected in 2024, we are coming to kill you, so tread lightly, bitch,' according to the complaint. She added, 'You will be targeted personally, publicly, your family, all of it.'" The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: If like me, you keep wondering what possible appeal a whiney, selfish, entitled, elderly fat man could have, Mizz Shry answers that question. Most likely, she is not a crazy person. She is the Kracken, and Donald Trump has released her. He has given her permission to degrade, threaten and even kill authority figures who irritate her. Trump has transferred power from those charged with enforcing the rule of law & normal "fairness" to individual Americans who have long felt that "fairness" means that they have the freedom and individual right to harm anyone who displeases them. Trump thought he had "an Article II where I have the right to do whatever I want," and every surly, ragtag Trumpbot believes Trump has transferred that same right to them.
Gideon Rubin of the Raw Story: "Longtime GOP operative and Donald Trump ally Roger Stone is shown hatching plans to overturn the 2020 election before the results were even known in a video obtained by MSNBC host Ari Melber. The video, which the cable network released publicly on Wednesday..., shows Stone ... dictating the plans to an associate on Nov. 5, 2020, two days after Election Day. The statement outlines plans to compel state legislatures to overturn close races by claiming election fraud." Includes video.
Kaitlan Collins & Paula Reid of CNN: "With his attorney in tow, Rudy Giuliani traveled to Mar-a-Lago in [late April] on a mission to make a personal and desperate appeal to ... Donald Trump to pay his legal bills. By going in person, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, Giuliani and his lawyer Robert Costello believed they could explain face-to-face why Trump needed to assist his former attorney with his ballooning legal bills.... But the former president ... didn't seem very interested. After Costello made his pitch, Trump verbally agreed to help with some of Giuliani's legal bills without committing to any specific amount or timeline. Trump also agreed to stop by two fundraisers for Giuliani, a separate source said.... But what has surprised those in Trump's inner circle is the former president's unwillingness to pay for Giuliani's bills, given Giuliani could find himself under intense pressure to cooperate with the federal and state prosecutors who have charged Trump."
Michael Gold & Grace Ashford of the New York Times: "A campaign associate of Representative George Santos who impersonated Speaker Kevin McCarthy's former chief of staff was charged with wire fraud and identity theft in a federal indictment unsealed on Wednesday. The aide, Samuel Miele, was arraigned Wednesday morning in Brooklyn federal court and released on $150,000 bond. He has pleaded not guilty. He was accused by federal prosecutors of sending 'fraudulent fund-raising' emails to more than a dozen potential contributors to an unnamed candidate. In those messages, he claimed to be a 'high-ranking aide to a member of the House with leadership responsibilities,' the indictment said. When Mr. Miele successfully solicited campaign contributions, he received a 15 percent commission, according to the indictment." Also linked yesterday. An NBC News story is here.
Lauren Sforza of the Hill: "A Republican lawmaker apologized Tuesday for a 'religious freedom' tweet he posted earlier that day after receiving backlash from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio) asked Lizzie Marbach, director of communications at Ohio Right to Life, to delete one of her posts on X...-Twitter, that said there is 'no hope for any of us outside of having faith in Jesus Christ alone.' 'This is one of the most bigoted tweets I have ever seen. Delete it, Lizzie. Religious freedom in the United States applies to every religion. You have gone too far,' he posted on X. Just hours after that post, Miller apologized for the tweet." MB: Miller's mistake was the tone of his tweet, particularly because he's a public official, and he gives the dimwitty lady a command. But the sentiment? I'm with Miller. Marbach's tweet is a straightforward expression of religious bigotry. Also linked yesterday.
American Nightmare. Matt Berg of Politico: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution she had not ruled out the possibility of running for the Senate. And she would consider "very heavily" (which must be like considering "very strongly") accepting the V.P. spot on a Trump ticket. Also linked yesterday.
Pam Belluck & Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "A federal appeals court panel said on Wednesday that the abortion pill mifepristone should remain legal in the United States but with significant restrictions on patients' access to it, setting up a showdown before the Supreme Court on the fate of the most common method of terminating pregnancies. The decision, which would prohibit the pill from being sent through the mail or prescribed by telemedicine, is the latest development in a closely watched lawsuit that seeks to remove abortion pills entirely from the market by invalidating the Food and Drug Administration's 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. But for now, the ruling will have no real-world effect: In April, the Supreme Court said mifepristone would have to remain available under the current rules until the appeals process concludes." Politico's story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I see no reason to look forward to a reasonable outcome. These old fogies, none of whom has medical or scientific expertise, think that because they cannot be overruled, they should decide what doctors and scientists are allowed to determine. Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is the responsibility of the first two branches of government to get together and check the absolute power of the third.
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Kansas. Kevin Draper & Benjamin Mullin of the New York Times: "The top prosecutor in Marion County, Kan., said on Wednesday that there was not sufficient evidence to support a raid on a local newspaper last week, and that all the devices and materials obtained in the search would be returned. Joel Ensey, the Marion County attorney, said in a statement that, in light of the insufficient evidence, he directed local law enforcement to return the seized material. Police officers and county sheriff's deputies searched the newspaper's office, the home of its owner and editor and the home of a city councilwoman on Friday -- collecting computers, cellphones and other materials. It is extremely rare for law enforcement authorities in the United States to search and seize the tools to produce journalism." See related stories linked over the past few days.
North Carolina. Rick Rojas & Anna Betts of the New York Times: "North Carolina became the latest state to block minors from having access to gender-transition care, as Republican lawmakers voted on Wednesday to override the governor's veto of a bill restricting hormone treatments, puberty blockers and surgeries for young people. The move came as the State Legislature's Republican supermajorities marshaled the votes to topple several other of Gov. Roy Cooper's [D] vetoes, reviving legislation that limits female transgender students' participation in school sports and restricts what can be taught in schools about gender and sexual orientation. North Carolina now joins about 20 other states that have enacted legislation blocking access to transition-related care for minors, with many of those laws passed this year as conservative lawmakers across the country have seized upon L.G.T.B.Q. issues." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I would not say that they "have seized upon L.G.T.B.Q. issues." I would say that they have cruelly seized upon a group of young people to target, and like the Supremes, have put themselves in a position to overrule the best practices of medical professionals and the natural rights of parents to participate in decisions about their children's medical treatment. I do think the government has an inherent interest in professional standards, but this is not it.
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Rudy Agonistes
So sad…
Well, only for Rudy. So here he is, crawling up to the Orange Monster begging for scraps to help pay for the crushing attorney fees he has incurred while licking the shit-patina off Trump’s shoes.
America’s Mayor. Yeah. One must have a caution regarding such grandiose soubriquets. I recall when the Dallas Cowboys were lauded as America’s Team for their on-field exploits. Insiders, aware of their many drug fueled off the field exploits, referred to them as South America’s Team.
The other day I listened to an Illuminating podcast with reporter Andrew Kitrzman, who has written several biographies of Mayor Shoe Polish. I was aware, as most of us are, of some of the story, but not about how far back he goes with Trump.
According to Kirtzman, Trump very much admired the old Giuliani, the kick ass, take no prisoners mayor who dismissed out of hand complaints about his actions, especially from minority communities, a trait Trump still displays with pride to the white supremacists, of which he is one. Kirtzman goes so far as to say that Trump, in his early political forays, largely modeled himself after Giuliani.
Following a disastrous presidential campaign in 2008, Giuliani started drinking heavily, the falling down kind of drinking. Trump offered him a bungalow at Mar-a-Lardo where he could hide out from the press for a month. Giuliani was immensely grateful.
But the need for adulation and money and prestige was too much for ol’ Rudy, so he hitched his leaky dinghy to the pirate ship Trumpy’s Curse. Cue runny hair dye.
What Giuliani failed to acknowledge, or even realize, apparently, is that the pirate captain loves it if you can bring him booty and pieces of eight. If not, or when he’s through with you, you’re shark bait. Just look at how he treated his mentor, the feculent Roy Cohn, Cohn, a gay man who spent years attacking the gay community, lay dying of AIDS. Trump, ever conscious of his image as a manly man, had no time for the guy who led him by the hand into the world of the big time con. He shoved all things Cohn off the cliff and carried on his merry way. And he was just a grifting real estate schmuck then.
Does Giuliani think that now, when that fat traitor believes himself to be a god, that he’ll get more consideration than Roy Cohn got?
If there’s any justice, Giuliani will end up in prison alongside other crooks he once put away. Whether the pirate captain will be in the next cell is doubtful, but it makes a lovely image.
And right on cue…
News that Rudy Giuliani, who once went after mobsters using the RICO statute, which he now faces, has made big news across the country. And the jailed mobsters are loving it.
“Veteran mob lawyer Murray Richman told The Messenger that he's ‘spoken to several of my clients’ since Giuliani, former President Donald Trump and 17 [it’s actually 18] co-defendants were charged with violating Georgia's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
‘You can quote me to say, 'They're f------ thrilled,’ Richman said Wednesday.
‘I don’t want to say the language, but they really ripped Rudy a new a------.’”
Hmmm…how interesting! Then there’s this:
“Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, who represented the late mob boss John Gotti, told The Messenger, ‘All of my clients who had the misfortune of being prosecuted by him are laughing now, as am I. I'm thrilled that Rudy will now experience what it feels like to be on the wrong end of a RICO prosecution — with a mandatory five years in prison facing him.’
Lichtman added, ‘It's not just an ironic result, but it's a just result. He was a horribly dishonest prosecutor, and the wheel of karma is about to crush him.’”
I’m guessing the boys can’t wait to see their old pal Rudes in the prison yard. Don’t drop the soap, Rudy.
The Nuts are Here!
You know—you just know!—that any catastrophe will be used as conspiracy fodder when the nuts get here.
Well, The nuts are here.
I’m certainly not one to spread the crazed droolings of the many agent provocateurs out there running around with their noses to the ground looking for their next target, but I know that RC world regulars are not the primary audience for these creeps. Nonetheless, this crap starts in the gutter and a few weeks later, the Gray Lady sniffs “People are saying…” and then it’s Katy bar the door.
And so…
You’ll never guess who’s to blame for the wildfires on Maui.
Give up?
Why, it’s the World Economic Forum (wait…not George Soros?)!
AND…ta-da! Joe Biden!
Yup. It’s all a plot to experiment with the development of a “smart city”, and, well, there was a meeting about just this sort of thing on Maui so what better place to start experimentationing? So, blow the place up! Oh yeah, that’s the other thing. It wasn’t a fire, it was blown up by the Defense Department. You know, as part of the experiment.
Forget the human tragedy and loss of life, here’s a great opportunity to spread more bullshit. The internet has much to offer but in many ways it’s like a fucking digital Antichrist.
Yesterday's mifepristone decision was even goofier than I thought. Can't find a handy link but the one dissenter dissented by offering an even loonier argument than the conservative majority that offered little argument at all. From what I can tell, the majority just decided.
Judge Ho, tho', asserted a right of anti-abortion doctors who were emotionally damaged to claim aesthetic harm when they they were denied the pleasure of seeing the birth of another bouncing baby boy or girl.
I've always claimed I should be compensated when aesthetically offended. At one point in his dissent, Ho offended me by making "none" plural.
Ho owes me.
More from the party that calls itself "pro-life" - The judge behind last April's ruling on mifepristone - Matthew J. Kacsmaryk - will be ruling on a case intended to shut down Planned Parenthood entirely in the state of Texas. Even after Planned Parenthood stopped performing abortions, Texas is still trying to shut it down
Found a reference for Ho's judicial nonsense about anti-abortion doctors' standing in the mifepristone case.
https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1691921793974714368?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
And @ unwashed.
Thanks for your kind hyperlink hints the other day but you and Marie are not in any way responsible for my innate boob-ery. Still can't manage it. Even had a dream about it the other night in which I succeeded once but couldn't duplicate my success. At least one part of the dream was positive...Call it progress.
@Ken Winkes: I'm so sorry we're giving you nightmares!
It looks as if you "caught" my nightmares. For years I've had nightmares that, no matter what the subject, centered on my inability to get something done. Whether it was trying to get someplace or trying to communicate in another language or trying to take a test where I hadn't read the literature, I could never accomplish the task. I've had this kind of nightmare all my life. But when I quit paying much attention to Reality Chex, those nightmares stopped. Haven't had one since.
So I get where you're coming from.
@Ken, don't quit trying.
<^a href="https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1691921793974714368?">Found a reference<^/a> for Ho's judicial nonsense about anti-abortion doctors' standing in the mifepristone case.
Removing the ^s after the start and end-tag <s makes the following (the stuff after the URL ?-mark can be removed in most cases. But don't do it with Youtube links):
Found a reference for Ho's judicial nonsense about anti-abortion doctors' standing in the mifepristone case.
https://twitter.com/MoiraDonegan/status/1691921793974714368?
I suggest that you read the entire piece (after sufficient time to make sure your breakfast stays down), but here's an excerpt from
Using Frederick Douglass to Rationalize Slavery? In Florida, Yes!
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/16/opinion/florida-prager-slavery-frederick-douglass.html
'Last month, the Florida Department of Education announced that grade-school teachers could use videos produced by Dennis Prager’s PragerU Kids in their classrooms.
'PragerU is no more a university than Trump University was. In fine type at the bottom of its webpage, it admits that “PragerU is not an accredited university, nor do we claim to be. We don’t offer degrees, but we do provide educational, entertaining, pro-American videos for every age.”
'In reality, PragerU is little more than a propaganda media site. The Southern Poverty Law Center takes an even dimmer view of its credentials, saying, “PragerU seems to be yet another node on the internet connecting conservative media consumers to the dark corners of the extreme right.”
'As for Prager himself, this is a man who said on his radio show in 2020, “It is idiotic that you cannot say the N-word.” And last year he falsely claimed that “if you see a noose on a college dorm of a Black student, the odds are overwhelming that the noose was put there by a Black student.”'
Those who deny the ills of history perpetuate those ills.
While I seldom make it through a David Brooks piece, I thought his essay in the September Atlantic thought provoking, especially after ruminating on Marie's question above on" what possible appeal a whiney, selfish, entitled, elderly fat man could have" on voters like Mizz Shry.
How America Got Mean
@Jack Mahoney: I'm just going to guess that Douglass' famous 4th of July speech is not voiced by Florida's cartoon Douglass:
"What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer; a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciation of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade and solemnity, are, to Him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices more shocking and bloody than are the people of the United States, at this very hour."
@Ken Winkes: I experience profound "aesthetic injury" when I read stories of young women suffering or dying because the state has forced them not to terminate a dangerous pregnancy. I suspect there are a lot more people like me than there are doctors who have a sad every time a woman and her family decide to terminate a pregnancy and the doctors lose the income generated by full-term maternity care and delivery.
It is not "aesthetic injury" mifepristone is causing these sensitive doctors; it's loss of income. This is another "greedy bastards" case.
Marie,
Quite. The abiding interest of real doctors is what’s best for their patients, not what allows them to go to church and beat their chests about how they stuck it to the godless libs, and definitely not what’s best for their pocketbooks.
Funny how they play the Jesus card when they feel like they need support for their otherwise insupportable positions, but when told that Jesus also instructed them to feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the sick, they reject all of that (the most central of his teachings!) as liberal bullshit they can ignore. Hypocrisy doesn’t come close.
Oh-noes! The Dear Leader can’t pardon his guilty ass in Georgia!!
What to do? Hmmm…hey, we can do what we always do…cheat, change the law, move the goalposts, anything to get our way!
Yeah, because that’s what they do.
“Conservative activist and former Senate GOP aide Mike Davis in an appearance on Fox News Monday argued that the Georgia legislature should pass a law allowing Republican Gov. Brian Kemp to be able to pardon former President Donald Trump following his election conspiracy indictment by a Georgia grand jury. ‘Under the Georgia law, there is a statute that limits the Republican governor's ability to pardon, and I think that the legislature in Georgia needs to amend that statute and give Governor Kemp the ability to pardon in this situation because this is clear election interference,’ Davis said.”
Actually, Mike, election interference is what Trump and his co-traitors were indicted for.
But here again, if the facts aren’t on their side, lie. If the law isn’t cooperating, change it so it suits your schemes.
This idea is unlikely to fly since it means a constitutional amendment, but that doesn’t change the fact that the first thing these fuckers think about is “How can we game the system to our advantage?”
This is why we see elected officials replaced with rubber stamp flunkies, why a president was denied his choice for the Supreme Court, why schools are told what they can and can’t teach, why newspapers are shut down, why impeachment proceedings against an elected judge are planned before that judge is sworn in, why gerrymandering in red states has been turbocharged to guarantee that no Democrat will ever be elected, even in majority Democratic regions.
It’s what they do. And anyone who says “no” is a dirty commie who gets death threats.
That’s today’s Republican Party.
Spirit Animals?
Remember the day, long, long ago when people given to hallucinations were treated kindly, if condescendingly, or given medical attention if their imaginings were so severe they could not function in the real world. If they were certified insane, they lost the franchise and sometimes their physical freedom.
Seems those days are long gone. Now whether they merely say or truly believe the nonsense they utter, they occupy high government positions and apparently have the support of thousands who have gone down the same or similar rabbit holes and like it there.
Are life's common challenges just too much for these folks to handle?
That last is a serious question.
Mass psychosis?
Re inserting links into our comments, I have never had success when trying from an iPad or iPhone (which I’m using now). Works fine on my laptops, both Windows-based and Mac, but not on the mobile devices. So Ken, that might be your problem? And if anyone has any hints for making it work on an iPhone etc, I’d be much obliged.
@Ken Winkes: Maybe it's just that the real Walter Mittys are getting bolder. A "normal" Jeff Clark would probably be thrilled he had become an assistant attorney general, a position that came with considerable power and prestige but with limited national recognition.
Yes, he was fighting the good fight curbing sensible environmental regulations, and he might get his name in the paper from time to time for some stupid right-wing position he was taking. But look at all the press Bill Barr got. He was a star. Like Walter Mitty, Jeff dreamed of being a star, too.
A "normal" person would not do what Jeff did to become a star. He would not break the law, he would not draft letters containing false statements. He would not defy his superiors.
Jeff had to have foreseen the perils of the course he decided to take: maybe not the part where he appeared on national teevee in his boxer shorts, but definitely the part where he was indicted and faced jail time for participating in a criminal conspiracy to overturn a presidential election. (Whether he anticipated the spirit demons and all who are attacking him now I have no idea.) A rational person would not take that obvious risk.
BTW, Marie, when I was talking with my wife, a retired pediatric nurse practitioner, early this AM about Judge Ho, she had the same take you did about those snowflake anti-abortion docs whose aesthetic sense might be injured by ready access to mifepristone.
They just want the money, she said.