;)
The Conversation -- June 13, 2024
Maya Miller of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked legislation that would codify the right to access fertility treatments such as in vitro fertilization, in the latest election-year bid by Democrats to spotlight G.O.P. opposition to protecting reproductive freedoms. On a vote of 48 to 47, all but two Republicans [Susan Collins & Lisa Murkowski] opposed advancing the bill, which would give Americans the statutory right to receive fertility treatments and decide how their reproductive material is used, stored and disposed of." ~~~
~~~ Marie: This strikes me as a little odd. I thought Republicans mostly had it in for poor women. But IVF treatment is expensive, so it's wealthier young families who opt for it -- you know, the lovely kind of people one would think Republicans would want to welcome into their base. Apparently not.
Tyler Pager, et al., of the Washington Post: "President Biden, whose reelection campaign is centered on mobilizing voters on abortion rights, has been waging a behind-the-scenes battle [at the G-7 meeting in Italy] to ensure that abortion access and reproductive rights are part of a global agreement among the world's leading democracies. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a hard-line conservative, has been intent on changing language that was included in last year's Group of Seven communiqué to exclude mentions of abortion or reproductive rights, according to officials familiar with the negotiations.... But Biden, along with the leaders of France, Germany and Canada, pushed for its inclusion, and Biden threatened to not sign the document if it was not included.... The debate over the communiqué became a major sticking point, with negotiations lasting until 2 a.m. for several nights over the past week, and the reproductive rights language did not get resolved until the very end, according to one of the officials involved."
Ann Marimow of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to limit access to a widely used abortion medication, rejecting a challenge from antiabortion doctors ... on procedural grounds. In a unanimous ruling, the court sided with the Biden administration and the manufacturer of mifepristone and reversed a lower court decision that would have made it more difficult to obtain the drug used in more than 60 percent of U.S. abortions. The ruling was not on the substance of the case, but on a procedural ruling that the plaintiffs did not have legal grounds to bring the case.... Individual physicians and the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine filed the initial lawsuit in Amarillo, Tex., where the only sitting District Court judge is Matthew Kacsmaryk, a Trump nominee known for his long-standing opposition to abortion." Here's the ScotusBlog report. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I wouldn't get all excited about this decision. All the justices agreed on was that the doctors who brought suit didn't have standing/weren't harmed by the distribution of mifepristone. Update: In fact, in the the New York Times' liveblog of the decision, Kate Zernicke wrote, "Cecile Richards, the former president of Planned Parenthood, noted that the decision does not rule out future challenges." And ~~~
Pam Belluck: "The decision will fuel efforts on the anti-abortion side to restrict abortion pills in other ways. One recent example involved Louisiana classifying abortion pills as Schedule IV drugs, a category that suggested they were dangerous or addictive substances, contrary to medical evidence."
Elizabeth Dias: "Anti-abortion activists are vowing that this will not be the end of their mission. They noted the case was decided on standing, not the merits of arguments about medication abortion itself. 'We'll be back,' said Kristan Hawkins, the president of Students for Life of America."
Zernicke: "Abortion rights groups reacted with wary relief. 'The attacks on abortion pills will not stop here,' Nancy Northup, the president of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. 'The anti-abortion movement sees how critical abortion pills are in this post-Roe world, and they are hell bent on cutting off access. In the end, this ruling is not a "win" for abortion -- it just maintains the status quo, which is a dire public health crisis in which 14 states have criminalized abortion.'"
Now, this sounds more like the Supreme Court we all know and despise: ~~~
Santul Nerkar & Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled in favor of Starbucks on Thursday in a challenge against a labor ruling by a federal judge, making it more difficult for a key federal agency to intervene when a company is accused of illegally suppressing labor organizing. Eight justices backed the majority opinion, which was written by Justice Clarence Thomas. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote a separate opinion concurring with parts of the majority opinion, dissenting from other portions and agreeing with the overall judgment. The ruling came in a case brought by Starbucks over the firing of seven workers in Memphis who were trying to unionize a store in 2022. The company said it had fired them for allowing a television crew into a closed store, while the workers said that they were fired for their unionization efforts and that the company didn't typically enforce the rules they were accused of violating. After the firings, the National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint saying that Starbucks had acted because the workers had 'joined or assisted the union and engaged in concerted activities, and t discourage employees from engaging in these activities.'"
Juliegrace Brufke & Andrew Solender of Axios: "... Donald Trump boasted about his polling in New York, New Jersey, New Mexico and other blue states - and showered praise on Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) - during his first visit to Capitol Hill since leaving office 2.5 years ago.... At a closed-door meeting with House GOP lawmakers Thursday, Trump talked about his own electoral and legal grievances, while praising loyalists and touching on policy issues like abortion, according to sources in the room."
Eli Tan of the New York Times: "Eight former employees of Elon Musk's' rocket company, SpaceX, sued the company and Mr. Musk on Wednesday, contending they were wrongfully fired for raising concerns about sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The employees were fired in 2022 after they circulated an open letter urging SpaceX executives to condemn Mr. Musk's comments on Twitter, later renamed X, which amounted to 'a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us.' After being made aware of the letter, Mr. Musk ordered the terminations, according to the complaint."
Mary Ilyushina of the Washington Post: "American journalist Evan Gershkovich of the Wall Street Journal will soon stand trial in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg on charges of spying for the CIA, Russian authorities said Thursday, after announcing that they had finalized an indictment. Gershkovich was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip in Yekaterinburg and accused of espionage. Gershkovich, the journal and U.S. officials have repeatedly rejected the charges as baseless." At 11:30 am ET, this was a developing story.
~~~~~~~~~~
Ellen Nakashima & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "President Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky plan Thursday to sign a 10-year security agreement that will commit Washington to supply Kyiv with a wide range of military assistance, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said, in a bid to bolster Ukraine's fight with Russia. The deal aims to commit future U.S. administrations to support Ukraine, even if former president Donald Trump wins November's election, officials said. It will be a framework for a long-term effort by the United States to help develop Ukraine's armed forces, which have innovated on drone warfare and other cutting-edge techniques in the fight against Russia, but are also desperately outgunned and in need of modern weapons."
Mark Landler & Steven Erlanger of the New York Times: "When Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy convenes the leaders of the Group of 7 countries on Thursday at a luxury resort hotel overlooking the Adriatic Sea, she might be forgiven for thinking her guests are seeking a refuge. Except for Ms. Meloni herself, every one of the leaders is arriving at the meeting beleaguered, embattled or endangered -- an ill-starred convergence that speaks to the political tremors rattling across the West. It also doesn't bode well for the results of a gathering that already faced vexing challenges, ranging from Russia's war in Ukraine to China's global economic competition."
Jeanna Smialek of the New York Times: "Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged at their June meeting on Wednesday and predicted that they will cut borrowing costs just once before the end of 2024, taking a cautious approach as they try to avoid declaring a premature victory over inflation.... Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, made clear in a postmeeting news conference that officials were taking a careful and conservative approach after months of bumpy inflation data." ~~~
~~~ The AP reports the Federal Reserve's statement here.
Nemo Debet Esse Judex in Propria Causa. Unless He's a Supreme Winger. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Wednesday blocked an effort by Democrats to quickly pass Supreme Court ethics and transparency legislation they had pushed forward in the wake of disclosures about justices taking unreported gifts and travel and other ethical issues surrounding the high court." The NBC News report is here. ~~~
~~~ digby: "Just as Donald Trump realized that as long as he had the Republican Party backing him he could not be convicted in an impeachment trial, so too have the Supreme Court right wing extremists. They essentially have full immunity from consequences for their corruption. I'll be surprised if they don't grant it for Trump for all of his legal problems as well. They have shown their true colors. Immunity from accountability is their new superpower." MB: Oh, it's a superpower they've enjoyed for decades.
Luke Broadwater of the New York Times: "House Republicans on Wednesday muscled through a measure recommending that Attorney General Merrick B. Garland be held in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena. The G.O.P. acted over Democratic opposition after the Justice Department declined to provide audio recordings of President Biden's interview with the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents. By a nearly party-line vote of 216 to 207, the House called on the Justice Department to compel the executive branch to produce the materials.... In a statement, Mr. Garland said it was 'deeply disappointing that this House of Representatives has turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon.'... Just one Republican, Representative David Joyce of Ohio, the leader of a mainstream G.O.P. group on Capitol Hill, voted 'no.'... The Justice Department has already made public a transcript of Mr. Biden's interview with [special counsel Robert] Hur, but House Republicans argue they need the recordings to continue their impeachment investigation and examine the president's mental fitness.... Mr. Biden last month asserted executive privilege to deny House Republicans access to recordings. That move was intended to shield Mr. Garland from prosecution." CNN's report is here. ~~~
~~~ David Edwards of the Raw Story: "'It's rich beyond measure, like a billionaire rich, to be asked to hold the attorney general in contempt by people who themselves received subpoenas to testify before the January 6th Committee, who never rendered a single document nor a single minute of testimony to the January 6th Committee,' [Rep. Jamie] Raskin [D-Md.] said."
Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) launched an investigation Wednesday into former President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his investment firm, Affinity Partners, over details regarding its investments in Saudi Arabia. In a letter to Affinity Partners Chief Financial Officer Lauren Key, Wyden said its concerning that several Middle Eastern governments, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, are using funds managed by the company and creating 'significant conflicts of interest and potential counterintelligence risks.'" ~~~
~~~ Charles Davis of Salon: "As The New York Times reported in April, [Jared] Kushner's investment fund, valued at $3 billion, 'is financed almost entirely from overseas investors with whom he worked when he served as a senior adviser in the Trump White House.' Some two-thirds of that money has come from Saudi Arabia's state-run Public Investment Fund, whose own advisers deemed Kushner's fund 'unsatisfactory in all aspects' only to be overruled by a board that includes Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the man who ordered the killing of U.S.-Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi when Trump was in office and who Kushner today describes as a 'visionary leader.' The other third? Much of it reportedly comes from other sovereign wealth funds run by the likes of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates....
"Virginia Canter, former chief ethics counsel for the Treasury Department and now an attorney with the watchdog group [CREW]..., said, 'It appears to be a payoff as much as a potential investment,' she said, and also ... buying [Donald] Trump's continued support for the Saudi government, which has also paid the former president millions of dollars to host its Liv Golf events. By enriching Kushner, and consequently Trump's daughter, Ivanka, the Saudis have increased the potential cost, personally, for ever breaking with them politically....'"
National Crime Blotter
Daniel Barnes & Zoe Richards of NBC News: "Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon asked a federal appeals court Tuesday to let him remain out of prison while he continues to appeal a nearly two-year-old conviction on criminal contempt of Congress charges. Bannon filed an emergency motion Tuesday evening asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to overrule a lower court's order last week that he report to prison for four months on July 1. Bannon is asking the D.C. Circuit to quickly rule on his motion -- by next Tuesday -- to allow him time if necessary to appeal to the Supreme Court over his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress in 2022, after he refused to answer questions from the House Jan. 6 committee." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Yo, Steve-o. If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Salvador Rizzo of the Washington Post reports on U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger's testimony in the case against Sen. Bob Menendez.
Glenn Thrush of the New York Times: "Hunter Biden is expected to appeal his felony conviction for falsifying a federal firearms application, likely arguing that the judge in the case violated his constitutional rights in her instructions to the jury, according to people in his orbit and legal experts. Mr. Biden's lawyer Abbe Lowell has also signaled that any appeal would be based on the Supreme Court's landmark decision in 2022 that vastly expanded gun rights, a ruling that spawned legal challenges to the part of the federal firearms form at the center of the Biden case. In Mr. Biden's case, it included a question asking buyers about their drug use. Any appeal would be an uphill climb, and the lawyers representing President Biden's son cannot officially file one until he is sentenced at the courthouse in Wilmington, Del., within 120 days, or about a month after he is scheduled to go on trial on federal tax charges in Los Angeles." ~~~
~~~ It's Complicated. Andrew Prokop of Vox: "... the backstory to this trial is messy: It's been a years-long, sprawling federal probe beset by accusations of political bias from both directions. But the trial itself was fairly straightforward. Some jurors told CNN that they questioned the importance of the case -- after all, no one was hurt with the gun, and Hunter has apparently been clean since 2019 -- but they felt the evidence was clear that Hunter broke the law.... It does indeed seem to be the case that Hunter would have gotten the plea deal he preferred if not for criticism from [two IRS] whistleblowers, Judge [Maryellen] Noreika, and the GOP. But that can be interpreted in two ways. One could argue that prosecutors wanted to give Hunter Biden a lenient 'sweetheart deal' until the whistleblowers and the judge called them out. Or one could argue that prosecutors belatedly went overly hard on Hunter due to politicized criticism from the whistleblowers and Republicans." ~~~
~~~ In case you're interested in how complicated, Marcy Wheeler has got you covered. ~~~
~~~ Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: "Many Trump allies had been secretly rooting for an acquittal. The talking points wrote themselves: It would have been yet more evidence that the United States justice system was rigged in favor of the Bidens and against the Trumps. Tuesday's guilty verdict was inconvenient to that narrative. Even more valuable would have been the fund-raising potential.... In a meeting last year..., Mr. Trump said Republicans needed to be careful, the person said, 'not to go overboard' on the Hunter Biden attacks, especially on the drug addiction issue, because it could elicit sympathy and make people view the president as a caring father.... Mr. Trump stopped making specific comments about Hunter in his stump speech as he moved toward the general election and as his own criminal trial in Manhattan began, instead using the 'Biden crime family' as an all-purpose slur." ~~~
~~~ Steve M. is not at all convinced by news analyses claiming that Hunter Biden's conviction messed up the GOP's claim that President Biden and Democrats had rigged the justice system against honorable fellows like Donald Trump. "Once a conspiracy theory is accepted by a segment of the population -- something that seems to happen on the right a couple of times a week -- it can't be dislodged by contrary facts.... The message of every conspiracy theory is that the 'official' story is wrong. That's why you can't debunk a conspiracy theory with new information -- that information is also 'official,' so it also has to be wrong. In fact, efforts to argue that new information definitively disproves the conspiracy theory just prove that the conspirators are trying even harder to lie to you." MB: You see? You see? It's all very logical. ~~~
~~~ ** digby covers all the bases. "... Republicans ... simply couldn't take 'guilty' for an answer.... They've been sobbing and whining and rending their garments for weeks now over the Trump verdict insisting that the Biden DOJ had implemented a two-tiered system of justice to target Republicans, specifically Donald Trump. And here you have that same DOJ prosecuting the president's only living son over a crime that Republicans insist is a violation of the second amendment. In fact, if it had been anyone else, much less the son of a GOP president, the NRA would have been holding vigils outside the courthouse. If Republicans still required logic and consistency to persuade their voters this whole thing would have been terribly confusing for them. Lucky for them, all they need is lies and demagoguery."
Presidential Race
Nia-Malika Henderson of Bloomberg: "On one of the worst days of his life, President Joe Biden showed the best of who he is. He affirmed his faith in his son, Hunter Biden, who was convicted on three felony gun charges. And he affirmed his faith in the justice system that held his only living son to account. Not only that, but hours after his son was found guilty, the president delivered a forceful speech on gun control that underscored his deep humanity, decency, and determination to stay focused on the problems of average Americans rather than drown in bitterness, self-pity, revenge and victimization. He spoke of hope in the face of loss, comforting those who've lost loved ones with his own story of grief. It was yet another stark and important contrast with ... Donald Trump, who believes that his self-created legal problems are matters of the state. Trump has vowed revenge if he returns to the White House, and Biden has said he respects the outcome of his son's trial." Firewalled.
How Donald Spent Grandpa's Last $25. Kathleen Culliton of the Raw Story: "... Donald Trump has funneled nearly $5 million from his presidential campaign coffers into his private businesses, according to a new financial analysis..., Forbes reported Wednesday.... Forbes analysis of Federal Election Commission records found $4.2 million funneled to Trump's aviation company Tag Air. Trump's private jet -- which he claims is better than Air Force One but experts say is comparable to a flying Staten Island ferry -- has been transformed into 'something of a charter service,' Forbes reports.... Trump's 2024 campaign has also spent $332,000 at his social club Mar-a-Lago.... The campaign spent $20,000 at the Miami golf resort Trump National Doral, $36,000 a Trump hotel in Las Vegas, according to the report. 'Add it all up -- the $4.6 million from the 2024 campaign and millions more from Trump's other groups -- and his businesses have collected about $7 million in total since the 2020 election," the analysis concludes."
Alex Woodward of the Independent: "A fundraising email blast from the chief political action committees supporting Donald Trump shared a troubling new message: 'haul out the guillotine.' The email went on to blast 'sicko' Kathy Griffin for her 2017 image holding a mock-severed Trump head and instead accused his Democratic rivals of wanting to behead him. 'The SAD and HORRIFIC TRUTH is that this is STILL the Sick Dream of every Trump-Deranged lunatic out there!' the message says. 'And it's not just me they want gone, THEY'RE REALLY COMING AFTER YOU! SICK SICK SICK!'"
Donald Trump is asking, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" Let's check. New York Times, June 13, 2020: "Many veterans and members of the military stuck with [Donald Trump] even as he attacked the Vietnam War record of Senator John McCain, disparaged families of those killed in combat and denigrated generals whom he fired or drove from government service.... But the president's threat last week to use active-duty troops on American streets against largely peaceful protesters, and his flirtation with invoking the 1807 Insurrection Act, have rattled the military world, from its top leaders to its youngest veterans.... The recent condemnations of Mr. Trump from high-level military veterans like Jim Mattis, the former defense secretary and a retired four-star Marine Corps general, have in some cases fortified the shifting views among military members."
** Jessica Contrera, et al., of the Washington Post: "A Washington Post investigation has found that over the past two decades, hundreds of law enforcement officers in the United States have sexually abused children while officials at every level of the criminal justice system have failed to protect kids, punish abusers and prevent additional crimes. Police and sheriff's departments have enabled predators by botching background checks, ignoring red flags and mishandling investigations. Accused cops have used their knowledge of the legal system to stall cases, get charges lowered or evade convictions. Prosecutors have given generous plea deals to officers who admitted to raping and groping minors. Judges have allowed many convicted officers to avoid prison time."
Ruth Graham of the New York Times: "Southern Baptists, the country's largest Protestant denomination, voted on Wednesday to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization. The vote was an indication that evangelicals are increasingly open to arguments that equate embryos with human life, and that two years after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, 'fetal personhood' may be the next front for the anti-abortion movement. More than 10,000 delegates, called 'messengers,' have gathered in Indianapolis for the denomination's annual meeting, which is closely watched as a barometer of evangelical sentiment on a variety of cultural and political issues. The vote on Wednesday was the first time that attendees at the Southern Baptist meeting have addressed the ethics of in vitro fertilization directly."
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Florida. Brooks Barnes of the New York Times: "Disney and Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida have finally ended their feud, clearing the way for $17 billion in planned development at Walt Disney World near Orlando. On Wednesday night, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District -- an entity that Mr. DeSantis took over in 2022, ending 55 years of Disney control and sparking multiple lawsuits -- gave the company a big part of what it wanted all along: a locked-in, long-term plan for expanding Disney World. At least for the next 15 years, the length of the new agreement, Disney can develop the resort without worrying about interference by Florida politicians."
Florida. Gary Fineout of Politico: "A Florida appeals court on Wednesday refused to go along with Gov. Ron DeSantis' argument that he can shield public records due to executive privilege -- a right that had not been recognized previously under state law that could have drastically expanded the governor's ability to keep records from the public. The decision by the three-judge panel of the 1st District Court of Appeal was a stinging setback for both DeSantis and Attorney General Ashley Moody, who insisted that the governor's office has the constitutional authority to shield records about internal discussions and deliberations.
Maryland/Pennsylvania. Tom Ignudo of CBS News: "Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman was 'at fault' and allegedly speeding before he rear-ended a car in a crash in Maryland on Sunday, state police said. In a report on Wednesday, a witness of the crash told Maryland State Police Fetterman was driving in a car with his wife, Gisele, 'well over the posted speed limit' as he passed by her on Interstate 70 just before the exit for Interstate 68 on Sunday just after 7:45 a.m. The speed limit on I-70 is 70 mph. Moments later, the witness said Fetterman rear-ended a 2013 Chevrolet Impala driven by 62-year-old woman of Pennsylvania, according to state police."
Oklahoma. Sean Murphy of the AP: "The Oklahoma Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit by survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dampening the hope of advocates for racial justice that the city would make financial amends for one of the worst single acts of violence against Black people in U.S. history that left as many as 300 people dead and a once-thriving district in smoldering ruins. The nine-member court upheld the decision made by a district court judge in Tulsa last year, ruling that the plaintiff's grievances about the destruction of the Greenwood district, although legitimate, did not fall within the scope of the state's public nuisance statute."
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Cuba, et al. Eva Sampson of the New York Times: "Russian warships arrived in Cuban waters on Wednesday as part of planned military exercises that experts say were a symbolic show of strength in reaction to continued U.S. support for Ukraine, and a reflection of growing ties between Russia and Cuba. The four-vessel group poses no real threat, U.S. officials said, despite tensions between the United States and Russia over the Ukraine war. The group includes the nuclear-powered submarine Kazan and the frigate Admiral Gorshkov, and contains no nuclear weapons, according to Cuban officials."
Israel/Palestine, et al.
Michael Crowley, et al., of the New York Times: "Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said on Wednesday that he would continue to press urgently for a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip despite a counterproposal from Hamas that he said included unacceptable demands.... Hamas's response [to the deal], he said, which was received by Egyptian and Qatari mediators and passed to American officials on Tuesday, makes demands that 'go beyond positions that it had previously taken and accepted.'"
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Reader Comments (15)
Tomorrow being Flag Day, I'm wondering how many news outlets
will be at the Alito house to show us which flag the Mrs. Alito is
flying.
The odds makers in Vegas should get on that post haste.
@Forrest Morris: Good thinking! Maybe the WashPo will send out a reporter who will watch Martha-Ann raise an "Immunity for Sam, Clarence & Don" flag, then report on it years from now. Tho I suppose you'll say that's not Post Haste.
I may be wrong but isn't tomorrow also Big Donnie's birthday as well as Flag Day?
I'm sure that event will be covered by our main stream, both sides media.
Yes, Flag Day is also the Donald's hatching day.
I'm sure he'll claim that his millions of worshippers have put out
flags for his birthday.
Mine will be at half mast, just hoping.
Encouraging crap
"Governor Kevin Stitt has now signed into law a measure that gives poultry farmers/companies “immunity” for polluting Oklahoma waterways.
Senate Bill 1424 says if companies or farmers are following state laws then they can’t be sued, even if their actions caused harm.
The proposal states if chicken companies or farmers follow a nutrient management plan, they’ll be protected from any criminal or civil accountability.
“You’re immune,” said Gov. Stitt.
The proposal does include consequences. It makes the pollution of chicken waste while not following safety guidelines a misdemeanor. It carries a fine no less than $500/day and caps it at $10,000/day."
@RAS: And I'm sure no one would call this a chickenshit law.
@ Marie
But I would call the Court's decision on mifepristone a chickenshit ruling.
@Marie: No, it's law and odor.
But when the Donald gets back in office, he'll know how to deal
with chickenshit. He's so full of it.
I wonder when or if we will ever respect the high court again-- the latest ruling sounds good until you read that it was just questioning the "standing" (they talk a lot about standing in the right--) of the weasels who brought suit. I suppose that indicates it ain't over, of course.
I really really wonder about Fetterman. He is or was beloved in PA until now. His unabashed support for Israel and his nastiness toward the press and staff have apparently thinned the ranks of his staff in past weeks, and now he'a rear-ended someone on an interstate? He has had strokes and mental health problems-- maybe he has undergone more results from those than we know... He needs to go in for maintenance.
Glad Mitch has decided to meet with the Mango Monster today-- (/s) we all know he (and MM also) is a raging hypocrite, incapable of any human emotion. Also glad the MSM is breathlessly reporting anything happening today.-- I am writing some notes and watching Beachfront Bargain Hunt.
Now that Hunter Biden, the son of the sitting Democratic President, has been found guilty, the DOJ is prosecuting a powerful Democratic senator, Bob Menendez, and has indicted another powerful Democratic congressman, Henry Cuellar, Party of Traitors schemers and MAGA foot soldiers are needing to double down on their fake claim that the Justice Department is weaponized against Republicans but goes easy on Democrats.
So what time is it? Again?
Time for all good traitors to come to the aid of the Fat Felon.
Yesterday, Le Roi Traitre waddled into a meeting in DC to plot revenge with some of the biggest names in Magastan, including Bible Mike. The Traitor King is pissed that beheadings of his enemies have not already begun.
“Johnson sympathized with Trump’s frustration. He’d been among the first batch of Republican lawmakers to appear alongside Trump at the Manhattan trial. He’d been harping on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s case and the alleged broader abuse of the justice system since before he took the gavel.
The speaker didn’t really need to be convinced, one person familiar with the conversation said: Johnson, a former attorney himself, already believed the House had a role to play in addressing Trump’s predicament. The two have since spoken on the subject multiple times.”
What role, pray tell, does the House of Representatives (or more accurately, the traitors therein) have to play in “addressing Trump’s predicament”, that predicament being his convicted of crimes he committed?
While it’s pretty much impossible for MAGA minions like Bible Mike to overturn Fatty’s guilty verdict, the goal now is revenge, and the outright prevention of the Dear Leader ever again being called to answer for his crimes in state courts:
“House GOP leaders, for instance, spent yesterday afternoon whipping a bill written by Rep. Russell Fry (R-S.C.) that would allow presidents charged at the state level to move those cases to federal court — effectively nullifying the power of officials like Bragg and Fani Willis, Trump’s prosecutor in Fulton County, Georgia.”
Of course, the traitors on the Supreme Court may provide an even better blanket of immunity for the fat fascist. We shall soon find out.
Milwaukee
"Milwaukee Mayor Hits Back at Trump’s ‘Horrible City’ Dig: ‘All of Us Lived Through His Presidency So Right Back At Ya Buddy’"
Horror
"Adam Parkhomenko: Horror movies become less scary each time they are watched, and Americans have viewed the Donald Trump horror show on repeat for nearly a decade. The villain does not change, but the viewer’s response calms dramatically. No matter what Trump says or does, Americans have seen this movie before, and we’ve seen it so many times that what once shook us at our core is now just background noise.
Arendt’s The Origins of Totalitarianism: In an ever-changing, incomprehensible world the masses had reached the point where they would, at the same time, believe everything and nothing, think that everything was possible and that nothing was true. […] under such conditions, one could make people believe the most fantastic statements one day, and trust that if the next day they were given irrefutable proof of their falsehood, they would take refuge in cynicism; instead of deserting the leaders who had lied to them, they would protest that they had known all along that the statement was a lie and would admire the leaders for their superior tactical cleverness."
Thomas Family Values
Funny how the corporate media hasn’t seen fit to report on Mark Martin, the man Clarence and Ginni Thomas called their “son”, now in prison facing years on drug charges. (See RAS’s link, above.)
Had there been a liberal Supreme Court Justice who had treated a family member whom they were legal guardians of, like Grifter Clarence and Coup d'état Ginni the media airwaves and internet sites would be sounding fire alarms of hypocrisy 24/7.
“The man Clarence Thomas said he once considered like a ‘son’ now says that Thomas doesn’t want much to do with him.
Mark Martin, the grandson of Thomas’s sister Emma… said that the Supreme Court justice and his wife, Ginni, don’t have a relationship with him anymore, despite being his legal guardians from age 6 to 19.”
I guess Martin was fine as a prop for Clarence and Ginni to trumpet their family virtues back when Harlan Crow was footing the bill for his education.
“‘I haven’t really heard much from them in a long time,’ Martin said of his adoptive parents. ‘I tried to communicate with them a couple of times, but I’ve never gotten any response.’
In 2007, Thomas said in an interview with C-Span that he and his wife were raising Martin, then 16, ‘as a son.’ Martin would attend military prep school Randolph-Macon Academy and Hidden Lake Academy, a residential therapeutic treatment center plagued by allegations of abuse, thanks to Crow, a Randolph-Macon alumnus, paying the tuition at both schools. Thomas did not report these payments on his financial statements.”
I guess Clar and Gin were too busy telling others how to live while plotting to overthrow the government.
Just compare their treatment of their “son” with Joe Biden who has stood by his own son through very hard times.
You won’t hear much about the Thomas’s hypocrisy, but corporate media is happy to rip Biden and his family for his son’s problems.
Same as it ever was.
In 2020 Biden received nearly 2 and a half times the Pretender's vote total in Milwaukee.
Could be that's why it's "horrible?"