;)
The Conversation -- August 31, 2023
Alan Feuer & Zach Montague of the New York Times: "Joseph Biggs, a onetime lieutenant in the Proud Boys, was sentenced on Thursday to 17 years in prison after his conviction on charges of seditious conspiracy for plotting with a gang of pro-Trump followers to attack the Capitol and disrupt the peaceful transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021. Mr. Biggs's sentence was one of the stiffest penalties issued so far in more than 1,100 criminal cases stemming from the Capitol attack and among only a handful to have been legally labeled an act of terrorism. It was just over half of the 33 years the government had requested and just shy of the 18-year term given in May to Stewart Rhodes, the leader of another far-right group, the Oath Keepers militia, who was also found guilty of sedition. The sentence, handed down by Judge Timothy J. Kelly in Federal District Court in Washington, kicked off a series of hearings scheduled for this week and next at which punishment will be meted out against the former chairman of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tarrio, and three other members of the group who were convicted of sedition and other serious crimes at a landmark conspiracy trial this spring." CNN's story is here.
Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Justice Clarence Thomas reported a luxury trip, private jet flights and a real estate transaction with a Texas billionaire in his annual financial disclosure form, which was released on Thursday morning. In an unusual move, the justice, who has been under increased scrutiny in recent months after he failed to disclose gifts and travel paid for by wealthy friends, included a detailed defense of his previous filings. Justice Thomas wrote that he had 'adhered to the then existing judicial regulations as his colleagues had done, both in practice and in consultation with the Judicial Conference.' But he said he 'continues to work with Supreme Court officials and the committee staff for guidance on whether he should further amend his reports from any prior years.'... Justice [Samuel] Alito's financial disclosure form was also released on Thursday morning. [The filings were due in June,] but Justices Thomas and ... Alito requested 90-day extensions...." ~~~
~~~ Mark Sherman of the AP: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is acknowledging that he took three trips last year aboard a private plane owned by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow. It's the first time in years that Thomas has reported receiving hospitality from Crow. In a report made public Thursday, the 75-year-old justice said he was complying with new guidelines from the federal judiciary for reporting travel, but did not include any earlier travel at Crow's expense, including a 2019 trip in Indonesia aboard the yacht owned by the wealthy businessman and benefactor of conservative causes." CNN's story is fairly comprehensive. ~~~
~~~ You can read Thomas's & Alito's financial disclosure statements here, via Politico.
~~~ See also Akhilleus' commentary below. Marie: If you think Thomas & Alito have told the truth, the whole truth & nothing but the truth on their "disclosure" forms, I've got a swell yacht AND a private jet I'll sell you for a low, low price. Indeed, Clarence admits his "disclosures" are incomplete when he says he "continues to work" with staff to amend prior years' reports. I wonder if "staff" will help him deal with "disclosures" he also accidentally forgot to mention to the IRS. It would be a pity of Clarence or Sam wound up in tax fraudster jail, which is probably not that much nicer than insurrection jail or than even armed-robbery jail.
Peter Charalambous of ABC News: "... Donald Trump has entered a plea of not guilty in the Georgia election interference case and waived his right to appear at his arraignment, according to a filing this morning.... Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee on Monday set the date of Sept. 6 for all 19 defendants to be arraigned on charges and enter their pleas in the case. Several other defendants -- including publicist Trevian Kutti, Georgia attorney Ray Smith III and former Trump campaign lawyer Sidney Powell -- have also entered not guilty pleas in order to avoid appearing at their scheduled arraignment." ~~~
~~~ Update. Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: Donald Trump's "plea came as Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, a fellow Republican, dismissed demands from the former president and some of his supporters to start impeachment proceedings against Fani T. Willis, the prosecutor who brought the case. Without Mr. Kemp's help, it is all the more unlikely that Mr. Trump will be able to derail the prosecution.... Mr. Kemp has the power to unilaterally call a special session; his refusal to do so for an impeachment of Ms. Willis echoes his refusal to call a special session after the 2020 election, when Mr. Trump pressured him to make such a move to help overturn his election loss." ~~~
~~~ Hannah Rabinowitz of CNN: "Trump also formally asked a judge to sever his case from his co-defendants who want a speedy trial. Trump attorney Steven Sadow says he will not have 'sufficient time' to prepare his case for trial by October 23, 2023...."
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Joe vs. the Stupid. Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has rejected some $350 million in Inflation Reduction Act direct rebates to Floridians who buy energy-efficient products which combat climate change. "The governor also rejected $3 million in IRA funds to help the state fight pollution and rebuffed the Solar for All program which would have paid to help low-income people access solar panels.... DeSantis' decision could serve as a line of political attack: with another hurricane looming amid possibly the hottest summer on record, the governor is placing opposition to Biden over helping Floridians weatherize their homes, and helping protect them from pollution or buy energy efficient appliances." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The article makes clear that DeSantis & the GOP legislature are rejecting the funds because DeSantis doesn't want to give Biden and Democrats credit for helping Floridians combat the climate change that is causing devastating harm to their state. And DeSantis did this in a state that is uniquely vulnerable to some of the worst climate-change effects. ~~~
~~~ "To Ron DeSantis this existential threat to the peninsula he represents is just another political debate": ~~~
~~~ MEANWHILE. FEMA $$$ Is Fine. Summer Concepcion & Rebecca Shabad of NBC News: "President Joe Biden said the federal government will play a key role in assisting states affected by Hurricane Idalia after the life-threatening storm made landfall Wednesday morning in Florida.... Biden said he had spoken with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and that he had directed Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell to fly there and meet with the governor.... [Biden told DeSantis] that he had quickly approved an emergency declaration for the state amid preparations for Idalia.... FEMA's National Response Coordination Center is also fully activated to support requests for federal assistance." The article goes on to discuss Biden's efforts to help the residents of Maui & Hawaii in general after the devastating fires that leveled Maui's historic town of Lahaina & other areas. MB: IOW, it's okay to take federal money to cover the effects of climate change but not to take money to cover the causes of the climate-change disasters. I suppose you can't heroically ride in in your white go-go boots to announce a promise of help for a disaster that hasn't happened yet.
Nick Niedzwiadek of Politico: "The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed giving raises to more than 3 million workers by making them eligible for overtime pay. The move by the Department of Labor comes more than eight years after the Obama administration embarked upon a similar effort to boost wages by rewriting overtime eligibility rules under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Workers making less than about $55,000 annually would be automatically entitled to time-and-a-half pay under DOL's proposal, up from $35,568 set in 2019 under ... Donald Trump. The Obama-era plan initially proposed setting a $50,440 floor before settling on $47,476 annually -- though a federal judge in Texas blocked the rule from taking effect. DOL estimates that the change would result in higher wages for 3.6 million workers.... The Biden proposal, if finalized, will likely face similar legal arguments to the ones presented against the Obama overtime rule.... Employer groups, whose members would likely see increased labor costs as a result of DOL's proposed policy, quickly lined up in opposition."
Frank Thorp of NBC News: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze again Wednesday, this time during a gaggle with reporters in Covington, Kentucky, stopping for more than 30 seconds after he was asked if he would run for re-election.... When it became apparent that McConnell had frozen again on Wednesday, an aide came up to him and asked, 'Did you hear the question, senator?' McConnell continued to be unresponsive. Once McConnell re-engaged, he responded briefly to another question about Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, a Republican; his aide needed to repeat the question to him. McConnell was then asked about ... Donald Trump, another question that had to be repeated. McConnell brushed off the question because he does not usually engage in Trump-related topics." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Since Mitch has had these medical incidents twice in public, it's highly likely he has experienced others in private. Mitch and Sen. Dianne Feinstein should retire now. ~~~
~~~ Burgess Everett of Politico: "Mitch McConnell's latest health scare guarantees Republican senators will return from recess next week just as they left -- publicly and privately discussing the future of their 81-year-old leader.... Senators quickly sought more information about McConnell's health after the incident, according to one person familiar with the dynamics. Shortly after the Wednesday incident, McConnell held calls with his closest allies including Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), according to people familiar with the calls. All of them are potential successors to McConnell.... some Republican senators privately say his grip on the [GOP] caucus and his engagement in meetings has waned since [he suffered a concussion in] March." ~~~
~~~ With Great Wealth Come Greedy Heirs. Dustin Gardiner of Politico: "The feud over the estate left by Sen. Dianne Feinstein"s late husband, Richard Blum, has many of the ingredients of a Netflix thriller -- complete with a billion-dollar fortune and the potential for a season-ending cliffhanger over whether she will unleash political chaos by retiring from the Senate. It's the story that everyone is whispering about given the messy final chapter in the life of a grand dame of California politics. The family struggle that has emerged in recent weeks raises fresh questions about the 90-year-old senator's ability to serve. A review of the San Francisco Superior Court file, along with a half-dozen interviews with family friends and associates, suggests Feinstein appears to be almost completely removed from the legal brawl, despite her stature and vast knowledge of government and the law.... The family legal battle mirrors the uncomfortable debate over her future in Washington -- with Feinstein herself largely silent about the drama surrounding her."
Carl Hulse & Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "Facing the prospect of a politically damaging government shutdown within weeks, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is offering a new argument to conservatives reluctant to vote to keep funding flowing: A shutdown would make it more difficult for Republicans to pursue an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, or to push forward with investigations of him and his family that could yield evidence for one. Mr. McCarthy first made the case on Sunday during an interview on Fox News.... In the interview, he called impeachment a 'natural step forward' from the many inquiries Republicans have pursued against the president, but he sidestepped a question about whether he had the votes to do so given the deep divisions among G.O.P. lawmakers about such a course." MB: Note that the reporters continue to call radical right MOCs "conservatives."
This Was the Jorge Who Was. Terrence McCoy & Marina Dias of the Washington Post: "... in his mother's native Niterói, [Brazil, Rep. George] Santos [R-N.Y.] actively participated in the budding gay rights movement, according to photos and people who knew him, and performed in drag more often than he has acknowledged. He attended the city's first Pride parades, handed out pamphlets at events, befriended some of the city's leading activists, and climbed nightclub stages to dance and lip sync in his drag persona, Kitara Ravache, promising to one day compete himself in Miss Brasil Gay.... In the United States..., Santos has backed hard-line policies that many in the LGBTQ community find discriminatory.... Santos, who previously denied performing in drag in Brazil, told The Washington Post that he did so only on [one] 2007 day, when he was 19, at the behest of family friend.... Hints of the scandals to come ... are sprinkled throughout his time in Brazil. Santos ... was known as an enigma, masked by multiple identities and apparently tall tales." The article goes into some details about Santos' life in Brazil.
Trials of the Trump Crime Family
Jonah Bromwich, et al., of the New York Times: "Before any of [the Trump] criminal trials will take place, Mr. Trump is scheduled for a civil trial in New York in October. During the trial, the attorney general, Letitia James, will seek to bar him and three of his children from leading their family business, the Trump Organization, and to require him to pay a fine of around $250 million. On Wednesday, Ms. James fired an opening salvo, arguing that a trial is not necessary to find that Mr. Trump and the other defendants inflated the value of their assets in annual financial statements, fraudulently obtaining favorable loans and insurance arrangements. The fraud was so pervasive, she said in a court filing, that Mr. Trump had falsely boosted his net worth by between $812 million and $2.2 billion each year over the course of a decade. 'Based on the undisputed evidence, no trial is required for the court to determine that defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values,' the filing said. But Mr. Trump&'s lawyers, in their own motion, argued that the entire case should be thrown out, relying in large part on a recent appellate court decision that appeared as if it could significantly narrow the scope of the case because of a legal time limit.... Both filings seek what is known as summary judgment, or a ruling from the judge that they are entitled to a victory before trial based on undisputed facts in evidence." CNBC's story is here. ~~~
~~~ The Most Honest Person in the World." Ben Protess, et al., of the New York Times: "Under oath and under fire, Donald J. Trump sat for a seven-hour interview with the New York attorney general's office in April, part of the civil fraud case against him and his company. But as lawyers from the office grilled Mr. Trump on the inner-workings of his family business, which is accused of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars, he responded with a series of meandering non sequiturs, political digressions and self-aggrandizing defenses.... Although Mr. Trump invoked his constitutional right against self-incrimination when initially questioned by the office last year, he answered questions from the attorney general, Letitia James, and her lawyers in the April deposition, a transcript of which was unsealed on Wednesday.... Below are some of the highlights from the transcript of his deposition[.]" ~~~
~~~ Here's one: "I was very busy. I was -- I considered this the most important job in the world, saving millions of lives. I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn't deal with North Korea. I think you would have a nuclear war, if I weren't elected. And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth." And this: "And friends of mine have said, you are the most honest person in the world." The AP's report is here. A copy of the deposition, via the AP is here.
Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Donald Trump says he will lock up his political enemies if he is president again. In an interview on Tuesday, the rightwing broadcaster Glenn Beck raised Trump's famous campaign-trail vow to 'lock up' Hillary Clinton, his opponent in 2016, a promise Trump did not fulfill in office. Beck said: 'Do you regret not locking [Clinton] up? And if you're president again, will you lock people up?' Trump said: 'The answer is you have no choice, because they're doing it to us.'... Trump told Beck that [President] Biden was behind the indictments against him. In fact, all were brought by prosecutors independent of the White House.... Also facing investigations of his business affairs, Trump said Democrats and other opponents were 'sick people ... evil people'."
** Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that Rudolph W. Giuliani was liable for defaming two Georgia election workers by repeatedly declaring that they had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election. The ruling by the judge, Beryl A. Howell in Federal District Court in Washington, means that the defamation case against Mr. Giuliani, a central figure in ... Donald J. Trump's efforts to remain in power after his election loss, can proceed to trial on the narrow question of how much, if any, damages he will have to pay the plaintiffs in the case.... Judge Howell's decision came a little more than a month after Mr. Giuliani conceded in two stipulations in the case that he had made false statements when he accused the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, of manipulating ballots while working at the State Farm Arena for the Fulton County Board of Elections.... But Judge Howell, complaining that Mr. Giuliani's stipulations 'hold more holes than Swiss cheese,' took the proactive step of declaring him liable for 'defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and punitive damage claims.'" Politico's report is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Paul Duggan of the Washington Post: Federal Judge Amit Mehta "ruled Wednesday that Peter Navarro, a Trump White House adviser charged with criminal contempt of Congress, cannot argue to a jury that he was barred by executive privilege from providing testimony and documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro, who has written and spoken extensively about his role in efforts to reverse ... Donald Trump's 2020 election defeat, is set to go on trial in the contempt case next week in U.S. District Court in Washington.... Navarro has produced nothing in writing from Trump [claiming to invoke executive privilege], nor has Trump publicly corroborated his account." MB: Trump lies about everything; why wouldn't he lie to get Navarro out of a jam? Trump either thinks (a) there's nothing in it for him, or (b) Navarro could -- or already has -- hurt him. (Also linked yesterday.)
Chris Whipple in a New York Times op-ed: "... as a cautionary tale for American democracy and the conduct of its executive branch, [Mark] Meadows is in a league of his own. By the standards of previous chiefs of staff, he was a uniquely dangerous failure -- and he embodies a warning about the perils of a potential second Trump term.... The chief's most important duty is to tell the president hard truths.... It was Mr. Meadows's critical failure to tell the president what he didn't want to hear that helped lead to the country's greatest political scandal.... Mr. Meadows didn't just act as a doormat to President Trump; he seemed to let everyone have his or her way.... As part of the efforts to subvert the 2020 election, Mr. Meadows paraded a cast of incompetent bootlickers into the Oval Office.... Mr. Meadows's testimony this week that his actions were just part of his duties as White House chief of staff is a total misrepresentation of the position.... Any competent White House chief of staff would have thrown his body in front of that call [to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger].... But the bigger problem for our country is that [Mr. Meadows'] failure is a template for the inevitable disasters in a potential second Trump administration.... Mr. Trump has already signaled that in a second term, his department heads and cabinet officers would be expected to blindly obey orders."
Josephine Harvey of the Huffington Post (republished in Yahoo! News): "Fox News host Laura Ingraham told John Eastman she had not seen evidence of fraud in the 2020 election after the former Donald Trump attorney claimed he had 'lots' of it. In Tuesday's Fox News interview, Eastman continued to double down on lies about the election, and insisted he 'had lots of evidence of fraud.' 'I haven't seen that evidence, and I'm always wanting to see everything,' Ingraham said." Ingraham is following the new Fox policy of admitting their was no evidence of voter fraud after losing a huuuge defamation suit because Fox personalities repeatedly supported claims that Dominion voting machines were rigged to switch Trump votes to Biden votes. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Eastman claimed in the same interview, according to the Washington Examiner, that there was no evidence "that he and his co-defendants knew what they were saying was false and baseless but sought to overturn the election anyway. 'They got all my emails,' he said. 'My phone was seized over a year ago. They have got all that stuff as well. I challenge them to find a single email or communication that supports that implausible theory.'" Yet -- based on his communications and on sworn testimony of multiple witnesses recorded in the federal indictment of Donald Trump & before the House January 6 committee -- there is a good deal of publicly-available evidence that Eastman knew the claims of massive voter fraud were fake & would not stand up to judicial review. Federal Judge David Carter, upon reviewing the communications determined that Eastman & Trump met the crime-fraud exception to attorney-client privilege because they "most likely committed felonies," including obstructing the work of Congress on Jan. 6 and conspiring to defraud the United States."
~~~ Eastman seems to have a serious case of dementia criminalus: sudden onset and specific amnesia brought about by a guilty knowledge of criminal culpability. Symptoms may be exacerbated by indictments or other legal actions brought against the sufferer. The condition is known to have been transferred from person-to-person via conspiracy theory.
It's Not Climate Change, It's a "Directed Energy Weapon." Tiffany Hsu of the New York Times: "As natural disasters and extreme environmental conditions became more commonplace around the world this summer, scientists pointed repeatedly to a shared driver: climate change. Conspiracy theorists pointed to anything but. Some claimed falsely that the record-smashing heat waves blistering parts of North America, Europe and Asia were normal, and that they had been sensationalized as part of a globalist hoax. Others made up tales that cloud-seeding airplanes or a nearby dam, rather than torrential rains, had caused the unusually intense flooding in northern Italy (and in places like Vermont and Rwanda).... Social media that racked up millions of views blamed the [Maui] blaze on a 'directed energy weapon' (the evidence: years-old footage not recorded in Hawaii).... Sometimes, 'the conspiracy theories] are amplified by top politicians and pundits -- the Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, for example, called climate change a 'hoax' during the first primary debate last week.... Deniers [describe scientific climate theory] as a tyrannical control tactic -- an effort to relocate rural residents to cities to be better monitored, to compel people to isolate indoors or to force a shift to renewable energy by sabotaging the fossil fuel industry." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jason Horowitz & Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Pope Francis has expressed in unusually sharp terms his dismay at 'a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude' opposing him within the U.S. Roman Catholic Church, one that fixates on social issues like abortion and sexuality to the exclusion of caring for the poor and the environment. The pope lamented the 'backwardness' of some American conservatives who he said insist on a narrow, outdated and unchanging vision. They refuse, he said, to accept the full breadth of the Church's mission and the need for changes in doctrine over time.... It has become a major theme of his papacy that he sees himself as bringing the church forward while his misguided conservative critics try to hold it back."
Presidential Race 2024
Wherein Jesse Watters of Fox "News" explains why the mugshot will persuade millions of Black Americans to vote for Donald Trump. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "As part of their never-ending effort to depict everything that their opponents do as an embarrassing mistake, prominent voices on the right have decided that the mug shot of ... Donald Trump ... has been a huge asset to Trump's reelection bid.... Because, the argument goes, Black Americans reflexively identify with someone who has been arrested.... [The problem?] Fox News and others on the right have invested heavily in the idea that there is no systemic bias affecting Black Americans.... [So] Watters framed the idea as loosely as he possibly could -- centering it on Black 'feelings'[:]... 'Black Americans, throughout our history, have felt unfairly victimized by the system,' he said. 'Historically, there's some truth to that.... The mug shot unintentionally created a bond between Donald Trump and Black Americans,' he claimed.... He added: 'There's a new forgotten man: the Black man.' [And Watters has proof of his thesis:] 'Today, my garbageman told me he's buying mug shot T-shirts for everyone he knows this Christmas!'" ~~~
~~~ Marie: Naturally, we are left to assume that Jesse's "garbageman" is a person of color. Anyhow, hat's off to the sanitation worker who wound up Jesse. Before he shows up for work at 5:00 am, he probably does a set at a MacDougal Street comedy club. And kills!
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Arizona. Jen Fifeld of the Arizona Mirror: "Maricopa County Supervisors Chairman Clint Hickman ... told a judge ... he remembers the years of harassment against him[, his family] and his colleagues ... propelled by lies about the fairness of the county's [2020] presidential election.... Behind him at the defendant's table as he spoke sat Mark Rissi of Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- one of many who had threatened him. A few days after the release of the results of the partisan 'audit' of the county's 2020 election, in September 2021, Rissi called Hickman's office phone and accused him of lying about the fairness of the election, told him he was going to die, and said 'we're going to hang you.' He called former Attorney General Mark Brnovich a few months later with a similar threat. U.S. District Judge Dominic W. Lanza on Monday sentenced Rissi, 65, to two-and-a-half years in prison and three years of probation after Rissi pleaded guilty to two counts of making interstate threats.... On Monday, Rissi told the judge he was remorseful..., [but Lanza reminded him that when the FBI interviewed him in June 2022, he said] he 'didnt want anyone to be lynched or hanged illegally, but a lot of people still need to be hanged.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
Tennessee. That Went Well. Erin McCullough of WKRN (Nashville): "The special session of the Tennessee General Assembly ended in chaos, including pushing and shoving between lawmakers and shouting from the public. Republican lawmakers rammed through an adjournment of the House sine die before Rep. Justin Jones could officially call for a vote of no confidence of Speaker Cameron Sexton. Shortly after the House was gaveled out, a situation between Rep. Justin Pearson and Sexton broke out before lawmakers swarmed both men to separate them." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Kimberlee Kruesi & Jonathan Matisse of the AP: "Tennessee lawmakers on Tuesday abruptly ended a special session initially touted to improve public safety in the wake of a deadly elementary school shooting, but it quickly unraveled into chaos over the past week as the GOP-dominant Statehouse refused to take up gun control measures and instead spent most of the time ensnared in political infighting.... Ultimately, lawmakers could only agree to pass four bills, which in part encourage but don't require using safe gun storage devices; require an annual human trafficking report; add the governor's existing order on background checks into state law; and increase funding for mental health and K-12 and higher education safety initiatives. Only a few gun control measures fell within the session's narrow parameters, and those were rejected without debate." (Also linked yesterday.)
Texas. Joshua Fechter of the Texas Tribune: "A sweeping new Texas law aimed at undermining the ability of the state's bluer urban areas to enact progressive policies is unconstitutional, a Travis County judge ruled Wednesday. State District Judge Maya Guerra Gamble made the ruling just days before the law -- House Bill 2127, which opponents nicknamed the 'Death Star' bill -- is slated to take effect on Friday. The Republican-backed law aims to stop ... cities and counties from passing local ordinances that go further than what's allowed under broad areas of state law. The law is still expected to go into effect, but Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel said Wednesday's ruling gives cities fodder to counter any lawsuit against local ordinances challenged under the umbrella of HB 2127. The state has already appealed the ruling, a spokesperson for the Texas Attorney General's Office said." MB: This is the law that says, among other things, that Texas cities cannot enforce ordinances that require humanitarian treatment of employees, like giving highway workers water breaks.
Wisconsin. Zach Montellaro of Politico: "Wisconsin Republicans are moving to fire the state's nonpartisan elections director ahead of the upcoming presidential primary in the state, casting a shadow of uncertainty over 2024 elections.... Democrats say Republicans want to drive [Director Meagan] Wolfe out of office as retribution for decisions the commission made in 2020.... 'I think that it's largely out of a desire to find an explanation for Donald Trump's loss other than fewer people voted for him than Joe Biden,' Ann S. Jacobs, one of the Democratic commissioners on the WEC, said of the machinations to remove Wolfe. 'She is the chief elections officer, she offers a face to the conspiracy theories.'... Wolfe, who is widely respected among her peers working on running elections, has the support of election officials in both parties from Wisconsin."
News Ledes
New York Times: Tropical storm "Idalia was making its way through South Carolina overnight on Thursday, dumping heavy rains, flooding streets and imperiling coastal communities with the double threat of storm surge and high tides. The center of the storm passed just north of Charleston around midnight, its maximum wind speeds having slowed to 60 miles per hour. In an early sign that some waterfront communities had been spared the worst, the fire chief of Edisto Beach, S.C., said there was 'zero to minimal damage' there even after waves had breached sand dunes that protect homes earlier in the night." An AP story is here.
New York Times: Hurricane Franklin "was moving away from Bermuda and farther into the Atlantic Ocean on Thursday morning. It was expected to gradually weaken over the next few days, the National Hurricane Center said. The dangerous surf and rip currents that the storm has produced along the coasts of the East Coast of the United States are forecast to continue. The storm weakened to a Category 2 on Wednesday from Category 4, but it was expected to remain a hurricane through the rest of the week."
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Reader Comments (21)
Hmmm…Turtle not doing so good? Freezing up now and then? Not sure who he is, where he’s at, or what’s going on? Oooh. That sounds bad. He needs a doctor. But ooops! He doesn’t get to decide who that doctor will be. The ‘merican people will make that decision, dang it. In November, 2024.
We can’t deprive the voters of their right to choose his next doctor, now can we?
So hang in there, Mitch. Mitch? Mitch??
“And this: ‘And friends of mine have said, you are the most honest person in the world.’”…
Wait…no “Sir” story where someone tearfully tells Fatty how wonderful he is and geeez, he was just about to eat a Three Musketeers bar, kill his whole family and set fire to his church, but then Trump was elected, the clouds cleared, and god saw that it was good…?
None of which is proof that he isn’t a chiseling con man. Sir!
The McConnell news made me wonder about the Kentucky election cycle.
Seems Kentucky's Democratic governor Andy Beshear is up for reelection this fall. He won by only one tenth of one percent in 2019 when he was running against an autocratic clown...
So if politics were all that mattered to me, I guess I'd have to wish Mitch would drop dead very soon.
Looks like DeSantis' grandmother never introduced him to the meaning of that old phrase about cutting off one's nose to spite one's face...
I was very fortunate in choosing my grandmother. She made sure I understood it.
Ken,
Andy Beshear is one of the most popular governors in the country thanks largely to the fact that Democratic governors, as a rule, try to work for their constituents, whether Democrats or Republicans, to accomplish concrete advances that make their lives better, as opposed to Party of Traitor governors like DeSantolini and Sarah Liarbee Sanders who direct what actual work they do to whipping up fear, hatred, and paranoia, thus making life miserable for everyone.
In a very real way, these people are the avatars of Ronald Reagan’s snarky snipe about government being the problem. It most certainly is when it’s run by people who see governing as a way to pad their pockets, increase their power, and impose their personal ideologies of fear and hatred on their already afflicted populace.
Who can truthfully say (anyone with a functioning brain) that government under Trump (and DeSantolini and Sanders) was not just problematic, but downright toxic?
The exasperation in Chris Hayes' voice reminds me of Jon Stewart in a classic, yet still relevant, segment:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPgZfhnCAdI
Critical Thinking
So kids, just a couple of examples of how thinking, among leaders of the Party of Traitors, can be critical, that is, critical as in the ICU on the verge of death.
Here’s the Fat Fascist:
Of course I’m going to lock people up!
Why?
They’re doing it to us.
But of course! Rock solid logic there, Donnie. “They’re doing it to us”, not “Because there’s clear evidence of criminality, and they’ve been found guilty in a court of law by a jury of their peers”. And oh, by the way, Trump has yet to be locked up, and those in the PoT who have been locked up, Jan. 6 thugs, Paul Manafort, etc. have been tried and found guilty of criminal acts.
Let’s, for the nonce, forget about the startlingly authoritarian mindset implicit in locking up one’s perceived enemies without due process. Just think of what the world would be like if an acceptable rationale for action was “Well, those guys are doing it”.
Okay. The other bit of thinking on the verge of death, John Eastman’s claim that “I didn’t know there was no fraud, so I tried to overturn the election!”
Right. Let’s leave aside the lead pipe cinch that ol’ Eastie knew for a fact that fatso lost and there was zero fraud. Thinking it’s okay to commit a crime because you believed someone else committed a crime (election theft) is not exactly indicative of a stellar legal mind. You wouldn’t hire that idiot to contest a fucking parking ticket. The judge would hit you with triple penalties for being stupid and wasting her time.
But these are just two of the revered figures in Right Wing World. You remember that line about the one eyed man in the country of the blind? This is the one brain cell bozo in the land of the dim.
Upon trying to get some info on Vivek Ramaswamy, my Google
searches end up with "page unresponsive."
Don't know if it's my computer or if this was done by the Googles.
From what little I've read about him in the past, he's probably a
bigger con artist than trump, so R. voters will probably be really
behind him.
I'll keep trying to find some current info.
@Forrest: Well, here's the Wikipage on Da Vek, which makes you kinda wanna slap the smug smirk off his face.
And here's a story from yesterday's NYT: "In his breakout performance in the Republican primary race, Vivek Ramaswamy has harnessed his populist bravado while frequently and unapologetically contorting the truth for political gain, much in the same way that former President Donald J. Trump has mastered.... He has spread lies and exaggerations on subjects including the 2020 election results, the Jan. 6 attacks on the Capitol and climate change. When challenged on those statements, Mr. Ramaswamy ... has in several instances claimed that he had never made them or that he had been taken out of context. But his denials have repeatedly been refuted by recordings and transcripts from Mr. Ramaswamy’s interviews — or, in some cases, excerpts from his own book." Which makes you kinda wanna slap the smug smirk off his face.
The dramatic uptick in white supremacist violence and murders can surely be laid at the feet of the entire Party of Traitors for its complicity in promoting and benefiting from virulent and deadly racism.
But Democrats bear some responsibility As well.
And that responsibility involves the always maddening way Democrats seem to fold in the face of R attacks whenever they make the tiniest mention of guns, racism, Christian nationalism, or white supremacy.
This is the knife to a gunfight thing, or as I’ve described it in the past, plastic butter knife to automatic weapons gunfight.
Exhibit A, a “Department of Homeland Security (DHS) report in 2009 that warned of the growth of right-wing extremism, including the white supremacist movement, and the danger it posed to communities across the United States.”
Great idea, right? Track these assholes and try to head them off where possible.
But the fascists and racists on the right were not happy. They went after the report and everyone connected to it and, well…
“The report prompted calls for then-Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano's resignation from Republicans including then-House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), who said the report could be about ‘two-thirds of Americans, who, you know, who might go to church, who may have served in the military, who may be involved in community activities’—suggesting this was evidence that the threat should not be addressed rather than a dangerous sign of the influence of white supremacy across American life.”
Napolitano apologized profusely, retracted the report and effectively disbanded all DHS efforts to track domestic terrorism, specifically, that coming from right wing militias and white supremacy bastions.
Will we ever, EVER, get tough with these motherfuckers? Because if not, then we might as well get ready for the next Jacksonville, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, El Paso, you name it. The right has been terrifically successful in cowing critics of their most extreme supporters and operators, and in doing so, we lay a trail of tears for them to follow, right up to the next mass murder.
Thots N prayerz.
How to become a millionaire, Vivek edition
Women's sports
"Nebraska volleyball sets world record for women's sports attendance
The largest crowd to witness a women's sports event filled Memorial Stadium on Wednesday, as 92,003 fans watched the five-time NCAA champion Nebraska volleyball team beat Omaha 3-0.
The crowd, at what is usually the home of Nebraska football, broke the previous world record for women's sports attendance -- 91,648 -- set on April 22, 2022, in Barcelona, Spain, for a Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Wolfsburg."
https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/drugmakers-could-find-sympathetic-us-supreme-court-drug-pricing-lawsuits-2023-08-31/?
For now I'll grasp at the "could," but faith in the Supremes is hard to come by....
The link that RAS posted explains a lot about Ramaswamy.
Too bad about that name. Seems we only elect one or two syllable names and with six letters or less, at least for the last ten or so
presidents.
The Times reports that King Alito and Coke Can Thomas have come clean about at least some of the many lavish gifts, trips, and real estate transactions they feel are their just due for being on the Supreme Court, although both of them said they didn’t “have to” do any reporting because they did nothing wrong!
This episode offers a perfect example of how serious and scrupulous reporting on issues of great import, as opposed to the usual stenographic and both sides hippity hop that masquerades as journalism, can dramatically affect all our lives. Without those Pro Publica pieces, these two crooks would have continued on their merry quid pro quo, pay to play way unmolested and unbothered by facts and a public airing of the sleaze they worked so hard to hide.
With the proliferation of RW gun-toting nincompoops in my state, some in my own county, if I fear for my security, will Mr. Crowe give me a ride?
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/us/thomas-financial-disclosures-scotus.html
Or are there different rules for different people in our classless, color-blind country, after all?
Both Sides Rules!
In the AP story (linked above), the reporter makes sure to point out that, well, sure Thomas and Alito are grifters who only years later and after tons of public scrutiny, have decided to report some of the largesse they have received from wealthy benefactors, but look over here…there’s Sotomayor doing the exact same thing…selling her books at colleges, as if her making $30 on a book is the same as million dollar trips and tens of thousands of dollars in undisclosed real estate transactions and gifts.
They never miss a chance to diminish the wrongdoing of confederates and traitors by bringing up some piddling action by liberals. This is like saying “Okay, so these guys own automatic weapons and RPG launchers, so what? Look at Sotomayor over there. She’s got a slingshot.”
Both sides do it!
@Akhilleus: If you read the AP's report on Sotomayor's "ethical practices," which I linked last month, I think you might change your mind.
Sotomayor used her taxpayer-funded staff to prod universities to sell bundles of her books in exchange for her showing up for a book-signing and little chit-chat. If attendees wanted to meet Sotomayor, buying a book was the price of admission to the room. Penguin, Sotomayor's publisher, also pressured institutions to buy a large number of books in conjunction with her appearances. Sotomayor did not recuse herself when matters involving Penguin came before the Court.
And she did not earn just $30 here and there for the sale of a few books. Sotomayor has made almost $4 million in the sales of her books. And some percentage of those sales was made under pressure.
I think her behavior was nearly as deplorable as Clarence & Sam's. I say "almost" because there are differences: (1) the people who paid Sotomayor would not gain any influence in matters before the court, and (2) they did get something in exchange for putting out their hard-earned dollars in Sotomayor's bank account: they got books, sometimes signed books.
My implied question from this morning about McConnell's possible successor is answered:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/us/politics/mcconnell-freeze-resign-senate.html
Those lovers of democracy, Kentucky's Republicans, took care of it.
Marie,
All good points, but doesn’t Sotomayor declare those book sales?
@Akhilleus: Yes, she does. (Or so I surmise.) And that's a good point. But she probably doesn't declare as income what she bills you and me for the time "our" civil servants spend working on her extracurricular projects.