;)
The Conversation -- December 19, 2023
** Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "... Donald J. Trump is ineligible to hold office again, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday, accepting the argument that the 14th Amendment disqualifies him in an explosive decision that could upend the 2024 election. In a lengthy ruling ordering the Colorado secretary of state to exclude Mr. Trump from the state's Republican primary ballot, the justices reversed a Denver district judge's finding last month that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment -- which disqualifies people who have engaged in insurrection against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it from holding office -- did not apply to the presidency. They affirmed the district judge's other key conclusions: that Mr. Trump's actions before and on Jan. 6, 2021, constituted engaging in insurrection, and that courts had the authority to enforce Section 3 against a person whom Congress had not specifically designated.... Mr. Trump will appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, his campaign said in a statement. Tuesday's ruling applies only to Colorado, but if the Supreme Court were to affirm it, he could be disqualified more broadly." The link to the ruling is a link to a Colorado state court file, not to a NYT file. ~~~
~~~ Politico's story is here. CNN has a liveblog that goes into some detail: "The court, in its ruling, found there was 'substantial evidence' that Trump laid the groundwork to claim the 2020 election was rigged ... even before the election and worked to pressure Republican officials in various states to overturn the results. The court also found that Trump's messages in the lead-up to the January 6 rally at the Ellipse in Washington, DC, 'were a call to his supporters to fight and that his supporters responded to that call.' The former president, the court found, also put a 'significant target on Vice President (Mike) Pence's back' when he tweeted on January 6 that Pence needed to send electoral votes back to the states. On January 6, the court notes, Trump also called for the crowd at the Ellipse to march to the Capitol, and the crowd 'unsurprisingly ... reacted to President Trump's words with calls for violence.'" Thanks to RAS for the link. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Andrew Weissmann, speaking on MSNBC noted that, although the Colorado court split 4-3, the minority did not object to the finding that Trump engaged in insurrection but to procedural issues. ~~~
~~~ Andrew Prokop of Vox looks at several aspects of the insurrectionist ban: Practically speaking, "... the Supreme Court is the ultimate destination for all of this wrangling, and it has a six-justice conservative majority, three of whom were appointed by Trump. Even before getting into the legal specifics, that's enough reason to be deeply skeptical that the Court would ban Trump from running again.... Given the lack of precedent, the much 'healthier path,' [political scientist Steven] Levitsky said, would have been if the Republican Party had managed to self-police by convicting Trump during his second impeachment trial and blocked him from running again. They didn't -- and that's why we're in this mess, debating whether democracy can even survive another Trump presidency." This is an update of an October post.
~~~ Marie: And are we not certain that the Honorable Justice Clarence Thomas will recuse himself from the case because of the conflict of interest created by his wife Ginni, a slobbering Trumpy insurrectionist?
Connor O'Brien & Joseph Gould of Politico: "The Senate confirmed nearly a dozen nominees for top military posts on Tuesday night, marking the end of Sen. Tommy Tuberville's remaining holds over senior promotions. With senators rushing to wrap up before the holiday, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer secured a deal to confirm all 11 nominees for four-star positions by voice vote.... Minority Leader Mitch McConnell told reporters after leaving the Senate floor, 'It's good news. We're happy about it.'... The Alabama Republican dropped his hold for most [of the 400+] promotions this month under pressure from his own party, paving the way for hundreds of confirmations. But he continued to stall four-star officers, making their confirmation one of the main pieces of unfinished business."
Gracious and wise, civil and principled, Sandra Day O'Connor, daughter of the American West, was a pioneer in her own right, breaking down the barriers in legal and political worlds and in the nation's consciousness.... She knew no person is an island. In the fabric of our nation, we are all inextricably linked, and for the America to thrive, America must see themselves not as enemies but as partners in the great work of deciding our collective destiny. -- President Joe Biden, at the funeral of Sandra Day O'Connor, Tuesday ~~~
The day that I was nominated to succeed Justice O'Connor, reporters had asked her what she thought of the nomination. She had nice things to say but ended by noting that the only problem was I didn't wear a skirt. My initial reaction was, of course, everything's negotiable. -- Chief Justice John Roberts, at O'Connor's funeral
~~~ Abbie VanSickle of the New York Times: "Justice Sandra Day O'Connor was remembered on Tuesday for her trailblazing role on the Supreme Court, trading the sweeping skies of the Arizona desert as a cattle rancher's daughter for the marble halls of the court to become the first female justice and one of the most powerful women in the country.... Although Justice O'Connor did not serve as chief justice, she held such power during a crucial period on the court that it was often referred to as the O'Connor court." The AP's story is here.
Marie: It dawned on me as I was watching parts of O'Connor's funeral that she would not have been our first female justice had she married someone else. While they were in law school, she dated William Rehnquist, and he asked her to marry him. She turned him down. Richard Nixon appointed Rehnquist to the Supreme Court in 1971. It seems unlikely Ronald Reagan, who nominated O'Connor to the Court in 1981 (and later nominated Rehnquist to be chief justice) would have gone for a husband-and-wife Supreme team, or that the Senate would have confirmed Sandra Day while her husband was on the job.
Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday slapped down former President Trump's statement that immigrants are 'poisoning the blood of our country' by pointing out Trump appointed his wife, Elaine Chao, who is Taiwanese American, to serve as secretary of Transportation in 2016.... But Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R), one of Trump's staunchest Senate allies, defended the former president's language. Tuberville said he was 'mad' that Trump 'wasn't tougher than that.'" ~~~
~~~ AND. Al Weaver of the Hill: "Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) issued a passionate defense of former President Trump's recent remarks claiming that migrants attempting to enter the U.S. are 'poisoning the blood of our country,' insisting that he was referring to fentanyl overdoses. When asked about the comments on Capitol Hill, Vance slammed the notion that Trump was borrowing rhetoric by Adolf Hitler and maintained that he was talking about the drug epidemic." MB: What a sick-o-fant.
Godwin's Law, Amended. Calder McHugh in Politico Magazine: "Any time people start fighting on the internet, someone will inevitably reach for the Hitler comparison. It's a virtually unbreakable rule known as 'Godwin's law,' named after Mike Godwin, an early internet enthusiast who coined it back in 1990. It's also understood that often the party mentioning Hitler or the Nazis is losing the argument, though that's not part of the law itself. Godwin's law was invoked this weekend when President Joe Biden's campaign said ... Donald Trump had 'parroted Adolf Hitler' when he accused undocumented immigrants of 'poisoning the blood of our country.' But according to Godwin himself, that doesn't mean Biden is losing the argument. 'Trump's opening himself up to the Hitler comparison,' Godwin said in an interview. And in his view, Trump is actively seeking to evoke the parallel.... 'You could say the "vermin" remark or the "poisoning the blood" remark, maybe one of them would be a coincidence,' Godwin said. 'But both of them pretty much make it clear that there's something thematic going on, and I can't believe it's accidental.'"
Digby, in Salon: "Just because Trump's first term didn't result in the full flowering of Nazi America doesn't mean that the signs weren't there. He has been saying things for years that point inexorably to his underlying fascist worldview. And even more disturbing, the response he gets from his tens of millions of followers clearly shows that they share it." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Months before special counsel Jack Smith took over the case, federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C. were considering obstruction charges in connection with Donald Trump's bid to subvert the 2020 election. A newly unsealed court filing related to the Trump grand jury investigation shows that prosecutors were eyeing the charge -- which had already been deployed against dozens of Jan. 6 riot defendants -- at least by September 2022 and perhaps as early as the spring. It's not clear whether the prosecutors at the time were considering bringing the charge against Trump himself or only against people in his orbit.... The unsealed document underscores the Justice Department's long and laborious pursuit of evidence to support the obstruction allegations now lodged against Trump -- even as the statute itself could be upended by the Supreme Court. The filing relates to search warrants obtained by prosecutors in June and July 2022 to scour the personal email accounts of former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, his deputy Kenneth Klukowski and the Chapman University account of attorney John Eastman."
Here's the video that has right-wing bigots in high dudgeon. See comments in today's thread:
~~~~~~~~~~
Rachel Siegel & Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: "... the economy is ending the year in a remarkably better position than almost anyone on Wall Street or in mainstream economics had predicted, having bested just about all expectations time and again. Inflation has dropped to 3.1 percent, from a peak of 9.1. The unemployment rate is at a hot 3.7 percent, and the economy grew at a healthy clip in the most recent quarter. The Fed is probably finished hiking interest rates and is eyeing cuts next year. Financial markets are at or near all-time highs, and the S&P 500 could hit a new record this week, too.... The Fed and the White House fought inflation on their own distinct tracks using entirely different tools. But now, the central bankers, Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen and President Biden's economic brain trust are cautiously pointing out that they have been vindicated by data and developments dismissed as virtually impossible until quite recently."
Chelsea Cirruzzo of Politico: "HHS wants states with the highest rates of children dropped from Medicaid to use certain federal rules that make it easier to get families back on coverage. In letters sent Monday to the governors of Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Dakota and Texas, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra urged the states to take up more of options CMS has offered to ensure coverage. The options include allowing states to use enrollee information they have to auto-renew coverage. HHS also issued new guidance for states Monday, including an option to give kids an additional 12 months to get on the rolls. That option is available through 2024, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure told reporters. Becerra also asked the states to remove barriers to Children's Health Insurance Program enrollment for children no longer eligible for Medicaid, reduce call center times for families and expand their Medicaid programs if they haven't already."
Tara Copp & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The U.S. and a host of other nations are creating a new force to protect ships transiting the Red Sea that have come under attack by drones and ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Tuesday in Bahrain. The seriousness of the attacks, several of which have damaged vessels, has led multiple shipping companies to order their ships to hold in place and not enter the Bab el-Mandeb Strait until the security situation can be addressed. The U.S. military's Central Command reported two more of the attacks on commercial vessels Monday. A strike by an attack drone and a ballistic missile hit a tanker off Yemen, at roughly the same time a cargo ship reported an explosive detonating in the water near them, the military said."
Azi Paybarah & Lisa Rein of the Washington Post: "The Senate on Monday confirmed former Maryland governor Martin O’Malley to lead the Social Security Administration as the agency faces looming questions about its long-term solvency, systemic dysfunction and ability to handle day-to-day customer service requests. O'Malley, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, was approved by a vote of 50 to 11. A handful of Republicans joined Democrats in voting for O'Malley as the agency's commissioner after he earned a reputation as a technocrat, in part, by focusing on measuring government performance." The Hill's story is here.
The Trials of the Trump Mob
Kyle Cheney & Josh Gerstein of Politico: In a 3-0 decision, "a federal appeals court has denied Mark Meadows' bid to move his Georgia-based criminal charges into federal court, rejecting a procedural gambit that could have derailed the state's election-related charges against not only Meadows but also Donald Trump. In an unsparing opinion written by a stalwart conservative judge [-- William Pryor --] the court ruled that Meadows, who served as Trump's White House chief of staff, must fight the charges against him in state court in Atlanta. Meadows had aimed to transfer the charges before a federal judge in hopes of having them quickly tossed out.... The panel ruled that a law permitting federal officials to transfer state-level charges into federal court applies only to current government officials, not former ones like Meadows. And the panel of the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit concluded that, even if Meadows were still in office, his argument would still fail because the state's charges against Meadows are about an alleged criminal agreement to join a conspiracy, not about any actions Meadows took as Trump's chief of staff." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ The New York Times story is here. The ruling, via Politico, is here. (Also linked yesterday.)
Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "Attorneys for former President Trump on Monday formally asked a judge to toss Trump's Georgia 2020 election criminal racketeering case on First Amendment grounds.... On Monday, [Trump's Georgia attorney Steve] Sadow filed court papers insisting that the allegations involved 'core political speech,' telling the judge the indictment must be dismissed ahead of trial." (Also linked yesterday.)
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Lawyers for ... Donald J. Trump asked the full federal appeals court in Washington on Monday to consider whether a gag order in the criminal case in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election should be further narrowed or thrown out. The request for a hearing in front of the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was Mr. Trump's latest attempt to challenge the order, which was imposed on him in October by the trial judge handling the case in Federal District Court in Washington." (Also linked yesterday.) A CNBC story is here.
Tobi Raji & Meagan Vazquez of the Washington Post: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is facing calls from a growing number of Democrats who say he should recuse himself from a case examining former president Donald Trump's presidential immunity, with more members of Congress raising concerns about the justice's ability to remain impartial given his wife's involvement in the movement to overturn the 2020 election results. The immunity case is the latest test of the court's recently released code of conduct.... In a new letter, eight House Democrats, led by Rep. Hank Johnson(Ga.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee's courts subcommittee, are calling on Thomas to recuse himself in the case, citing the court's new code of conduct's guidance on impartiality.... Ginni Thomas, who previously insisted that her work is separate from that of her husband, pressed the Trump White House and lawmakers to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 victory...." More on Clarence Thomas linked below.
Andrew Kaczynski, et al., of CNN: "Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have come to the defense of a one time social media influencer who has been convicted of election interference and has a well-known history of pushing deeply racist, antisemitic, anti-Muslim and homophobic content online. In a video posted by his campaign in early December..., Trump blasted President Joe Biden and 'his henchmen' for allegedly trampling on the First Amendment rights of Douglass Mackey, a longtime supporter of the former president who ran an anonymous, notorious Twitter account in 2016.... Trump Jr. lauded the content featured on Mackey's Twitter feed. He praised Mackey on his December 7 podcast as 'maybe my favorite Twitter account of all time.'... Mackey, however, was under federal investigation for conspiracy to suppress votes in the 2016 presidential election during Trump's administration. Mackey was charged seven days after Biden took office and convicted earlier this year. He was sentenced to seven months in prison but is currently out pending an appeal of his case." (Also linked yesterday.)
Eileen Sullivan of the New York Times: "Two former Georgia election workers who successfully sued Rudolph W. Giuliani for spreading baseless lies about them after the 2020 presidential election sued him again on Monday, seeking to bar him from continuing to repeat those falsehoods. Lawyers for the election workers, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, also asked the Federal District Court in Washington on Monday to force Mr. Giuliani to pay the $148 million in damages he owes the women immediately because of his financial troubles. Typically, there is a 30-day delay before a defendant can be forced to pay.... During the weeklong trial to determine the amount of compensation and in the days after, Mr. Giuliani, speaking in interviews and to reporters outside the courthouse, reasserted his debunked claims that the women sought to deprive ... Donald J. Trump of victory as they counted votes in Fulton County, Ga., on Nov. 3, 2020." CNN's story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Here's why Freeman & Moss have to bring that suit: ~~~
~~~ Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "Rudy Giuliani is still not backing down from his false claim about two Georgia election workers who sued him for defamation.... On Monday, [Giuliani] went on Newsmax where he quintupled down. '[Your] initial allegations,' host Rob Schmitt said to his guest. 'You still believe them to be true?' [Giuliani replied,] '... Yeah, I do. But they want me -- they want me to lie. They basically they are suing me in order to lie for them. I'm sorry, I can't do it. The if -- if I showed you the evidence right now, and I think you've played it on your air, people would see that what I said was absolutely true and their support for it.'"
Michael Luciano of Mediaite: "A software engineer hired by former President Donald Trump to investigate claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election said every instance he investigated was false.... Ken Block appeared on Monday's edition of OutFront, where Erin Burnett asked him about his findings.... [Block replied,] 'In my job looking for voter fraud for the campaign, we didn't find any -- we didn't find enough fraud to have impacted the result of any election in any of the swing states that we took a look at.... My team looked at approximately 15 or so claims -- every one of which we were able to prove was false.'..." Both special counsel Jack Smith & Fulton County, Georgia, DA Fani Willis have subpoenaed Block's records; he implied he complied with the subpoenas.
Alex DeLuca of the Miami New Times: "Authorities have unsealed an arrest warrant for Barbara Balmaseda, a former Florida International University student and South Florida GOP strategist accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Barbara 'Barby' Balmaseda -- a 23-year-old from Miami Lakes with ties to high-profile Republican politicians in Florida and beyond -- was arrested and charged with corrupt obstruction of an official proceeding, knowingly entering and remaining in a restricted building, and engaging in disorderly conduct in a Capitol building with the intent to impede a session of Congress on January 6, 2021.... Balmaseda interned for U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio between 2018 and 2019, worked as an organizer on Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2018 campaign, and served as campaign manager for Ileana Garcia's controversial 2020 Florida Senate race."
** Chris D'Angelo of the Huffington Post: "The group that organized the pro-Donald Trump rally in front of the White House on Jan. 6, 2021, knowingly misled government officials about plans for attendees to march on the U.S. Capitol, according to a new investigation from the Interior Department's internal watchdog. The report, published Monday by Interior's Official of Inspector General, includes text messages from Kylie Kremer ― the rally's organizer, and a representative of the group Women for America First ― and one potential event speaker. The Interior report does not name the individuals, but the exchange between Kremer and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO and Trump ally, was previously made public by the House Jan. 6 select committee. 'This stays only between us, we are having a second stage at the Supreme Court again after the ellipse. POTUS is going to have us march there/the Capitol,' Kremer wrote to Lindell on Jan. 4. 'It cannot get out about the second stage because people will try and set up another and Sabotage it. It can also not get out about the march because I will be in trouble with the national park service and all the agencies but the POTUS is going to just call for it "unexpectedly."'" The New York Times report is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: The report includes statements from National Park Service officials who said Kremer repeatedly said there were no plans for a march on the Capitol. Seems to me Kremer broke some federal law, and I'd be happy if DOJ prosecuted her for it.
Justin Elliott, et al., of ProPublica: "Interviews and newly unearthed documents reveal that [Supreme Court Justice Clarence] Thomas, facing financial strain [in 2000], privately pushed for a higher salary and to allow Supreme Court justices to take speaking fees.... [Thomas told Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns (R) that] Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise.... If lawmakers didn't act, 'one or more justices will leave soon' -- maybe in the next year.... Congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise. But in the years that followed..., Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court.... Ralph Mecham, then the judiciary's top administrative official, fired off the memo describing Thomas' complaints to [then-Chief Justice William] Rehnquist, his boss.... Several months later, Rehnquist focused his annual year-end report on what he called 'the most pressing issue facing the Judiciary: the need to increase judicial salaries.'" (Also linked yesterday.)
U.S. Steel, a Japanese Corporation. Eli Tan of the Washington Post: "Japan's largest steelmaker, Nippon Steel, won its bid to purchase U.S. Steel, a deal valued at $14.1 billion that will put the legacy American company in the hands of a foreign firm. The purchase, announced Monday, comes months after failed bids by domestic competitors Cleveland-Cliffs and Esmark, which tried to purchase U.S. Steel for $7.3 billion and $10 billion, respectively. The combination will make Nippon the second-largest steel company, trailing only China Baowu Group. U.S. Steel will retain its name after the acquisition and remain in Pittsburgh, where it was founded in 1901 by J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie and Charles Schwab, according to a statement."
~~~~~~~~~~
Texas. David Goodman of the New York Times: "Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday escalated his challenge of President Biden's border policies by signing a measure that allows Texas law enforcement officials to arrest migrants who enter the state from Mexico without legal authorization, setting the stage for a showdown with the federal government. Mr. Abbott pushed for the legislation, which passed in a special session of the Republican-dominated State Legislature last month over the strong objections of Democrats, immigrant-rights groups and Hispanic organizations who argued that the measure violated the U.S. Constitution and would encourage racial profiling. Some border sheriffs have also opposed the legislation, expressing concern that it could rapidly overwhelm the local jails and courts...." The Texas Tribune story is here.
Virginia. Orlando Mayorquin & Rebecca Carballo of the New York Times: "Hours after workers began removing a towering Confederate memorial from Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, a federal judge issued an order temporarily halting the effort to dismantle one of the country's most prominent monuments to the Confederacy on public land.... The group [Defend Arlington], which is affiliated with an organization called Save Southern Heritage Florida, sued the Defense Department in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on Sunday, arguing that the Pentagon had rushed its decision to take down the monument and that it had circumvented federal law by not preparing an environmental-impact statement. It also said that the work would damage the surrounding graves and headstones. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday." An NPR story is here.
~~~~~~~~~~
Israel/Palestine
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Tuesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in Tel Aviv that protecting civilians in Gaza is a 'moral duty and a strategic imperative,' as international criticism of Israel's offensive mounts.... CIA Director William J. Burns met with the head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and Qatar's prime minister in Warsaw on Monday to try to broker a new hostage release deal, two people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. But National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters: 'I can't report a date ... or tell you in good faith that another deal is imminent.' The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution calling for a halt in the fighting in Gaza. The vote had been postponed from Monday to allow for the reworking of the draft resolution in the hopes of avoiding another U.S. veto, the Associated Press reported." ~~~
~~~ The New York Times' live updates for Tuesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.
Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "President Biden and his top aides have engaged in an increasingly awkward dance in recent days, prodding Israel to change its tactics in the war in the Gaza Strip while still offering it robust public support. Mr. Biden said last week that Israel was losing international support because of its 'indiscriminate bombing' of Gaza, a much more critical assessment than his earlier public statements urging greater care to protect civilians.... Speaking to reporters after daylong meetings, [U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd] Austin called U.S. support for Israel 'unshakable,' and endorsed its campaign to destroy the ability of Hamas, which controls Gaza, to wage military operations in the difficult urban terrain. But he also repeated a message he has increasingly made of late: Israel will be left less secure if its combat operations turn more Palestinians into Hamas supporters.... Mr. Austin's visit was part of a full-court press by the Biden administration to urge Israeli officials to wrap up the 'high-intensity' phase of the war and begin carrying out more targeted, intelligence-driven missions to find and kill Hamas leaders, destroy the tunnels used by the militant group and rescue the people taken hostage on Oct. 7."
Vatican. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis had allowed priests to bless same-sex couples, his most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral, and less rigid, church. The Vatican had long said it could not bless same-sex couples because it would undermine church doctrine that marriage is only between a man and a woman. But the new rule made clear that a blessing of a same-sex couple was not the same as a marriage sacrament, a formal ceremonial rite. It also stressed that it was not blessing the relationship, and that, to avoid confusion, blessings should not be imparted during or connected to the ceremony of a civil or same-sex union, or when there are 'any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding.'" The AP's report is here. MB: Um, I guess this is progress??? ~~~
~~~ Marie: This reminds me of the Archbishop of Canterbury refused to marry then-Prince Charles of Great Britain & his long-time paramour Camilla Parker-Bowles, forcing the couple to marry in a civil ceremony, then attending a "blessing" of their marriage in which the couple & the congregation had to recite "the strongest act of penitence from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer," acknowledging unspecified past sins. I guess you can tell I just watched the last episodes of "The Crown."
News Lede
Weather Channel: "A large volcanic eruption is underway in southwestern Iceland, with semi-molten rock shooting high into the air in an area where scientists feared for weeks that such an event would take place. It's happening about 2 miles north of the town of Grindavik, which had been evacuated in November amid fears that an eruption nearby was likely. Earthquakes left some homes damaged in the town, which also prompted evacuations. This type of eruption is not likely to send a large amount of ash into the air, and therefore, large-scale flight delays and cancellations are not expected. The eruption is happening about 30 miles southwest of Iceland's capital, Reykjavik, along the Reykjanes Peninsula." ~~~
Share Article
Reader Comments (13)
re Blood Poisoning,
If The Donald is reelected, will he have Emma Lazarus' poem on The Statue of Liberty modified to read:
“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.
But only if they look like Me, think like me, act like me, talk like me, vote for me...."
Truth in advertising, after all.
And elsewhere in hypocrisy, see:
Today in hypocrisy see:
The unexpectedly good economy has forced a number of economic naysayers into an intellectual corner.
When the collapse didn't come, when inflation did indeed moderate, when high interest rates did not cause a great economic slowdown and a surge in unemployment, the doomsayers didn't go away. Some shifted their arguments a little, but they are still out there, plying their wares. Bad times, they say, are still just around the corner.
Krugman wrote about it yesterday: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/opinion/inflation-economists.html.
I thought he was a bit too kind to the professional alarmists. He suggest they’re mostly stubborn…..I’m paranoid enough to suspect a cabal of economic propagandists doing what they can to undermine confidence in the Biden administration.
I have no direct evidence of that, but reading the comments I detected this thread: Many who disagreed with Krugman’s relatively sunny view of things referred to the end of the paycheck protection program. When the money runs out, they said, everything will tank, Just you wait.
Since the PPP did end some time ago, I’m not buying it. More to my point, the frequency of the argument gives it the odor of a Right wing meme….and reminded me of of a line from (I think) Bob Dylan.
For the Right, there’s no success like failure….
I assume that the Republicans in Congress are planning another
impeachment. This one on Pope Francis for hinting, sort of, kind of,
that same sex marriage is recognizable. Just don't have flowers and
a cake. That would make it sinful.
If you don't believe in same sex marriage, just don't do it, but shut up
about other people doing it. Doesn't affect you at all.
And if Clarence Thomas still has ideas about repealing same sex
marriage, I suggest he add interracial marriage to that bill and see how
far that get him.
Soooo…let’s see what’s going on in the alternate world known as Planet of Traitors, Crooks, Liars, and Grifters, aka Right Wing World.
Orange Hitler and his coke addled punk kid show unstinting support for a convicted felon, racist, and homophobic liar. Why do they never show support for, ya know, reasonably decent people? Why, Trump!, of course.
Runny Hair Dye man goes on Newsmax (which is like getting up to speak at a Klan rally) and continues to defame two innocent black ladies. Why? Trump!, of course. Also, Giuliani! a drunken lout.
Mark Meadows screams “You can’t try me in Georgia! I’m above the law. Let me go! Why? Trump!, of course. Also, Meadows! a chiseling, scheming asshole.
A far-right apparatchik for Marco (I need some water) Rubio and Ron (where are my go-go boots?) DeSantis is charged with a federal crime. Why? Trump!, of course. Also, Party of Traitors!
Mike Lindell! ‘nuff said. Why? Mike Lindell, of course! Also, Trump.
Former SCOTUS Chief Justice Rehnquist is reported as saying the most important issue before the entire US judiciary is…more money for me and Clarence! Why? Chiseling grifters! That’s why.
Lots more. Because assholes never stop being assholes.
@D in MD: Yeah, Amanda Marcotte of Salon sees the "patriotic objections" to the Dorrance Dance video as worse than hypocritical: "Anyone with working knowledge of right-wing trigger points knows what fueled the outrage, and it's not just a general right-wing aversion to fun. It's plain bigotry. The first smiling face we see in the video is a Black woman. Throughout the video, many of the dancers read as people of color and queer people. Plus, the music is jazz, not classical. We are apparently at that point in fascist development where they reject syncopated rhythms as decadent and emasculating....
"Racism and homophobia are obviously what's fueling this tantrum.... But what struck me in all this is how deeply anti-American this right-wing fury is.... All this artistic innovation defined American culture and proved to be so popular that it spread out across the globe. But it also tells a story about the United States that the MAGA movement wants to erase. It's about the outsized impact that Black Americans have had on American music, basically inventing and refining and redefining every musical form that originated here."
Ohio Republicans plotting to thwart voters who backed 'immoral
and evil' abortion rights.
The will of the voters doesn't matter because they made an
'imoral' choice last month, say they.
https://www.rawstory.com/ohio-abortion-law-2666659920/
An interesting piece about the crotchety, combative, but always fun James Carville who points to the huge problem of Christian Nationalism and its leaders like Mike Johnson as being a bigger threat to the country than al-Qaida.
For my money, that’s a huge understatement. Al-Qaida poses nowhere near the danger to the American Experiment, the Constitution, and democracy that Christian nationalists threaten.
“‘Johnson has no skill, no background, no majority to speak of…What Johnson does represent is a level of breathtaking hypocrisy,’ Carville said. ‘His anti-homosexuality and young earthism are hypocrisy on steroids.’”
The piece goes on to point out the sleaziness that so often pops up among the holier-than-thou, which doesn’t seem to make a dent with the holy rollers.
“Before his election to Congress, Johnson was founding dean of a campus law school to be named for Paul Pressler, 93, a retired Texas judge, legislator and Southern Baptist potentate. In 2018, the Houston Chronicle reported Pressler paid $450,000 to settle a lawsuit by a man who alleged that Pressler sexually assaulted him as a high school student in Bible study. The law school never materialized.”
Gee, imagine that.
Nonetheless, that same founding dean is now in a position to whack all of us with his steel-clad Bible.
Unfascinating rhythm
Marie correctly identifies syncopated rhythms as being particularly annoying to the MAGA crowd, especially if employed by performers of color. Nothing new. Nazis hated jazz too.
“Degenerate. That's what the Hitler regime called modern art and jazz. Jazz was especially hated because it was considered music by Jews and Black people. So the Third Reich outlawed jazz, but they also tried to use it as a weapon to weaken British and American resolve. They took popular tunes, rewrote the lyrics to belittle British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and American President Franklin Roosevelt and, of course, to demean Black people and Jewish people. These songs were played on the radio broadcast to Britain and the U.S.”
And just like the Nazis, right-wingers try to co-opt certain songs to turn them against those who created those songs and their audience.
You may recall Reagan’s co-opting of Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” to remake it as an anthem to support his Morning in (White) America campaign. The song is nothing of the kind. It’s about a Vietnam vet who comes home, can’t find a job, lost a brother in the war, is jobless and maybe homeless, but who tries to maintain his dignity in the face of forces he can’t control. It ain’t no “white picket fence, darkies nowhere to be seen, capitalism is great, Hoorah for the You-Ess-Ay!” right-wing singalong.
Likewise, Trump, as is his wont, steals and repurposes songs to support his racist, hate-filled MAGA machine. Songwriters are not pleased.
“President Trump has repeatedly feuded with musical acts that have sued him to prevent his campaign from using their music at events.”
These include John Fogarty, whose song “Fortunate Son”, is about a rich kid like Trump who evaded the draft.
“The veteran said he wrote the song in 1969 after being drafted in the Army, frustrated by how rich people with privilege and money could avoid the draft. Fogerty said he also ‘wrote about wealthy people not paying their fair share of taxes’…
‘Mr. Trump is a prime example of both of these issues’ Fogerty said. ‘The fact that Mr. Trump also fans the flames of hatred, racism and fear while rewriting recent history, is even more reason to be troubled by his use of my song.’”
Other artists are similarly incensed at Trump’s attempt to use their music for his own self-aggrandizement.
Neil Young sued the Fat Fascist for playing his “Rockin’ in the Free World”, an interesting choice for an authoritarian criminal intent on curtailing the freedom of all he views as enemies.
“Plaintiff in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.” You said it.
But here’s my favorite:
“Brendon Urie of Panic! At The Disco slammed Trump in June after the president walked out to the band’s song ‘High Hopes’ before an event in Phoenix.
‘Dear Trump campaign,’ the singer wrote on Twitter. ‘Fuck you. You’re not invited. Stop playing my song. No thanks, Brendon Urie, Panic! At The Disco & company.’
In a follow-up tweet, Urie wrote that Trump ‘represents nothing we stand for.’”
In fact, just like the Nazis, he stands for the exact opposite.
Fatty’s obsession with blood...
“Donald Trump believes in eugenics. He really does. Of course, his understanding of it is purely based upon his own belief in his superior genes and good ‘German blood.’ He's said it many times in public…”
Good Nazi blood, he means.
Looks like someone is gunning for a place in a Trump regime.
Miami Herald
"As Saudi Arabia sought to rehabilitate its image after decades of bad-for-business headlines about 9/11 hijackers, alleged police torture, public beheadings and the gruesome murder of a Washington Post journalist, the regime turned to an unlikely ally for PR and networking assistance: Miami Mayor Francis Suarez. Suarez was in Saudi Arabia last October rubbing shoulders with Saudi royalty at their global trade summit, dubbed “Davos in the Desert,” when he learned that Yasir Al-Rumayyan, right hand to the crown prince, wanted to co-host a similar event with him in Miami. Suarez later recalled his response: “I’m all in.” Using his public office, including the city seal, Suarez gave the Saudi regime what it wanted: a public relations boost at a time when it was seeking to spread its influence around the globe and brand itself “a force for good.” As a bonus, he was also able to significantly benefit a major client of the international law firm that pays him more than $1 million a year.
He was provided a lengthy roster of tycoons and celebrities that the Saudis wanted invited — ranging from Marc Anthony to Shakira — as well as a list of which sessions the mayor needed to attend, when he should show up and what talking points he should follow.
Suarez has credited two people with introducing him to Saudi Arabia. One is his boss, John Quinn, the founder of Quinn Emanuel, who brought him to the firm’s newly opened Riyadh office. The other is Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and Middle East adviser to then-President Donald Trump."
For a moment at least Trump is off the vote.
CNN
"In a stunning and unprecedented decision, the Colorado Supreme Court removed former President Donald Trump from the state’s 2024 ballot, ruling that he isn’t an eligible presidential candidate because of the 14th Amendment’s “insurrectionist ban.” The ruling was 4-3 and will be placed on hold pending appeal until January 4."