;)
The Conversation -- September 6, 2023
Marie: Go to the bottom of the page, where you will find out that it is not necessary to stage a violent insurrection to overturn the results of an election. In fact, Republicans in Congress are trying the same tack against President Biden, and if it doesn't work, they'll just shut down the government so you won't get your Social Security check or be able to take the kids to a national park.
A Victory (However Shortlived) for Human Decency. Paul Weber of the AP: "A federal judge on Wednesday ordered Texas to move a large floating barrier to the bank of the Rio Grande after protests from the the U.S. and Mexican governments over Republican Gov. Greg Abbott's latest tactic to stop migrants from crossing America's southern border. The decision by U.S. District Judge David Ezra of Texas is likely to be appealed by the state, which for the past two years has aggressively pushed legal boundaries to curb the the flow of migrants under a sprawling mission known as Operation Lone Star. The judge said the state must move the barrier by Sept. 15. Dozens of bright orange, wrecking ball-sized buoys have created a water barrier longer than a soccer field on a stretch of river where migrants often try crossing from Mexico. Texas also has installed razor wire and steel fencing on the border, while also empowering armed officers to arrest migrants on trespassing charges."
Kara Scannell of CNN: "Special counsel David Weiss intends to seek an indictment against President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, relating to gun charges by the end of the month, the Justice Department said Wednesday.... This story is breaking and will be updated."
Zach Schonfeld of the Hill: "A state judge denied Kenneth Chesebro's attempt to sever his charges in the Georgia election interference case from Sidney Powell on Wednesday. But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee signaled he is skeptical of prosecutors' request to try alongside them the other 17 co-defendants, including former President Trump, though McAfee has not yet made a final ruling on that question."
Joe Jacquez of the Hill: "Chris Christie slammed GOP presidential rival Ron DeSantis for 'playing politics' after the Florida governor chose not to meet with President Biden during his trip to the Sunshine State to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia.... Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who met with then-President Barack Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, said DeSantis failed in his job as governor of the state. 'You're the governor of the state, the President of the United States comes and you're asking ... the Congress for significant aid.... You should have been there with the president to welcome him,' Christie said.... 'Fortunately, [Sen.] Rick Scott ... who knows what it means to be governor, showed up and made sure the president saw what he needed to see.'..."
Hannah Demissie & Isabella Murray of ABC News: "Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a Washington-based watchdog group, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of a handful of voters seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in Colorado under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The suit -- quickly dismissed by Trump's team -- marks one of the first serious challenges to his qualifications as a presidential candidate based on a 14th Amendment argument.... Wednesday's suit against Trump was filed, with CREW's attorneys, by six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, including former state, federal and local officials. The suit accuses Trump of inciting and aiding the mob that stormed the Capitol two years ago."
Katherine Faulders & Mike Levine of ABC News: Attorney Evan "Corcoran's recollections, captured in a series of voice memos..., help illuminate [Donald] Trump's alleged efforts to defy a federal grand jury subpoena, and appear to shed more light on his frame of mind when he allegedly launched what prosecutors say was a criminal conspiracy to hide classified documents from both the FBI and Corcoran, his own attorney.... ABC News has reviewed copies of transcripts of the recordings, which appear to show the way Trump allegedly deceived his own attorney, and how classified documents, according to prosecutors, ended up at Mar-a-Lago in the first place."
Dan Mangan of CNBC: "A federal judge on Wednesday ruled that Donald Trump is civilly liable for defamatory statements he made about writer E. Jean Carroll in 2019 when she went public with claims he had raped her decades earlier. Judge Lewis Kaplan, as part of that ruling, said the upcoming trial for Carroll's lawsuit against Trump will only deal with the question of how much the former president should pay her in monetary damages for defaming her. Normally, a jury would determine at trial whether a defendant is liable for civil damages claimed by a plaintiff. But Kaplan found that Carroll was entitled to a partial summary judgment on the question of Trump's liability in the case." IOW, Carroll doesn't have to prove again in the second case against Trump that he defamed her; Kaplan says it's a given. The New York Times story is here.
Thanks, Elon! Brian Schwartz of CNBC: "Ever since Meta lifted its two-year ban on ... Donald Trump earlier this year, its Facebook and Instagram platforms have emerged as a key element of Trump's presidential campaign fundraising plan, according to data from Meta's archives and interviews with campaign strategists and Trump advisors. Meta's platforms offer Trump a vital resource that he can't get from his own social media site, Truth Social, or via his countless mass emails: Access to millions of potential donors who may not be part of his traditional political base of supporters."
Florida. Okay, Kids, Write Out Martin Luther's 95 Theses. Dana Goldstein of the New York Times: "An alternative to the SAT and ACT for only a small number of mostly religious colleges, the [Classical Learning Test] is known for its emphasis on the Western canon, with a big dose of Christian thought. But on Friday, Florida's public university system, which includes the University of Florida and Florida State University, is expected to become the first state system to approve the Classic Learning Test, or CLT, for use in admissions.... It's the latest move by Gov. Ron DeSantis to shake up the education establishment, especially the College Board, the nonprofit behemoth that runs the SAT program.... The company [that developed & administers the CLT] ... describes the CLT as part of 'the larger educational freedom movement of our time' -- language that echoes that of conservative supporters of private-school vouchers and tax credits for home-schoolers.... While there is no single definition of classical education, the CLT celebrates canonical works from Western civilization, with an emphasis on Greek, Roman and early Christian thought. Memorization, logic and debate are considered important skills."
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Michael Shear of the New York Times: "On Tuesday, President Biden awarded [Larry] Taylor the Medal of Honor at the White House, citing his 'conspicuous gallantry' for rescuing the soldiers 'under heavy enemy fire and with complete disregard for his personal safety' more than five decades ago.... Flying in his two-man Cobra helicopter, which was nearly out of ammunition, Mr. Taylor landed in the middle of [a Vietnam] firefight, extracting the four men who hung onto the helicopter's skids and rocket pods as the helicopter carried them to safety. It was the first time a rescue like that had even been attempted during the war."
Brett Samuels of the Hill: "President Biden tested negative for COVID-19 on Tuesday and will wear a mask while around others indoors after first lady Jill Biden tested positive for the virus a day earlier, the White House said. The first lady is experiencing 'mild symptoms' after testing positive Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. She will remain in Delaware to quarantine."
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Hoping to reassure his colleagues that he is physically able to continue as minority leader, Senator Mitch McConnell released a letter on Tuesday from the attending physician of Congress declaring that an examination and tests had ruled out a stroke or seizure as causes of his recent on-camera medical episodes. In the letter, Dr. Brian P. Monahan, the Navy rear admiral who serves as the on-site doctor in the Capitol for members of Congress and the Supreme Court, said his examination of Mr. McConnell, Republican of Kentucky-- along with a brain M.R.I., an electroencephalogram study and a neurological consultation -- had found no sign of a seizure disorder or stroke.... As he entered the Senate chamber on Tuesday [-- the first day Congress was in session after an extended August break --] Mr. McConnell did not respond to questions from reporters about his health, but he obliquely addressed it on the floor as he talked about the busy schedule he kept in Kentucky during the past month. CNN's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: The only senator Hulse cites as questioning McConnell's fitness for office is Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) Hawley looks like an effete snob among the rich Harvard boys at the college glee club, but -- as long as he isn't personally threatened with violence -- he's more like a rabid pit bull, due respects to puppies.
Lawrence Hurley of NBC News: "Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., is demanding that Chief Justice John Roberts take action over an unusual interview in which conservative Justice Samuel Alito questioned whether Congress has the power to impose ethics rules on the Supreme Court. Whitehouse's complaint, submitted Monday, focuses on a July 28 interview published by The Wall Street Journal, conducted in part by the conservative lawyer David Rivkin, in the wake of recent news articles raising questions about Supreme Court ethics. 'No provision in the Constitution gives them the authority to regulate the Supreme Court -- period,' Alito said. Whitehouse said in his letter that Alito's comments bear on legislation he has sponsored to impose an ethics code. Whitehouse wrote the letter to Roberts in part to highlight how the Supreme Court does not have a formal mechanism for handling ethics complaints. Alito's comments violate the code of conduct lower court judges follow in part because he gave an opinion about a legal issue that might come before the court, Whitehouse said."
The Trials of Trump
Dan Mangan of CNBC: "'Daily' statements by ... Donald Trump 'threaten to prejudice the jury pool' in the federal case where he is charged with crimes related to trying to reverse his loss in the 2020 election, prosecutors said Tuesday. Prosecutors made that claim as they pushed back on a call by Trump's lawyers to allow a three-week briefing process for Judge Tanya Chutkan to decide whether 'every ordinary' court filing that refers to sensitive materials should be placed on the court's public docket." (Also linked yesterday.)
Jack Smith Keeps on Keepin' on. Zachary Cohen & Paula Reid of CNN: "Special counsel Jack Smith is still pursuing his investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election a month after indicting Donald Trump for orchestrating a broad conspiracy to remain in power, a widening of the probe that raises the possibility others could still face legal peril. Questions asked of two recent witnesses indicate Smith is focusing on how money raised off baseless claims of voter fraud was used to fund attempts to breach voting equipment in several states won by Joe Biden.... In both interviews, prosecutors have focused their questions on the role of former Trump lawyer Sidney Powell. According to invoices obtained by CNN, Powell's non-profit ... hired forensics firms that ultimately accessed voting equipment in four swing states won by Biden: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona. Powell faces criminal charges in Georgia.... Powell has also been identified by CNN as one of Trump's un-indicted co-conspirators listed in Smith's federal election indictment." (Also linked yesterday.)
As the Worms Turn. Josh Gerstein & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The finger-pointing among Donald Trump's inner circle has begun. And as his four criminal cases march toward trials, some of his aides, allies and co-defendants are pointing at the former president. In court documents and hearings, lawyers for people in Trump's orbit ... are starting to reveal glimmers of a tried-and-true strategy in cases with many defendants: Portray yourself as a hapless pawn while piling blame on the apparent kingpin.... In late August, an information technology aide at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort dramatically changed his story about alleged efforts to erase surveillance video and agreed to cooperate with special counsel Jack Smith.... Then, three GOP activists who were indicted alongside Trump in Georgia ... asserted that their actions were all taken at Trump's behest. And last week, Trump's former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows -- also charged in the Georgia case -- signaled that his defense is likely to include blaming the former president as the primary driver of the effort." (Also linked yesterday.)
Sara Murray, et al., of CNN: "Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and the remaining defendants in the election interference case in Fulton County, Georgia, have pleaded not guilty and have waived their arraignments, new court filings show. Misty Hampton, who faces charges related to the Coffee County voting system breach and was the last holdout among the 19 defendants changed in District Attorney Fani Willis' case, entered her plea early Tuesday afternoon. The other defendants have been filing their pleas in recent days." (Also linked yesterday.)
Rachel Weiner & Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A federal appellate court on Monday blocked Justice Department access to the phone records of a Republican lawmaker as part of the investigation charging ... Donald Trump with trying to undo the 2020 election results. While the details remain under seal, the ruling stymies federal Jan. 6 investigators who have been fighting for a year to review thousands of documents from Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). The legal fight has been conducted largely in secret, and Monday's ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. was likewise under seal. But the public order vacates a lower-court ruling that gave the Justice Department access to thousands of texts, emails and attachments it sought from Perry's phone, which was seized by investigators in August 2022. The appellate court ... upheld the district court's ruling on Perry's other communications." Politico's story is here.
Daniel Barnes & Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the far-right Proud Boys, was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison Tuesday afternoon following his conviction on a seditious conspiracy charge in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. His sentence is the longest so far in a Jan. 6 case so far, surpassing the 18 years given to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy. Tarrio was one of four Proud Boys found guilty of seditious conspiracy in May." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Enough Already. Dan Mangan of CNBC: "New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge Tuesday to sanction Donald Trump, other defendants and their lawyers for rehashing the same failed legal arguments in James' big civil fraud lawsuit against the former president.... In her filing Tuesday, James said that since last October, the defendants have made the same legal arguments against her lawsuit five separate times.... James asked that all the defendants be fined $10,000 collectively, and that another fine of $10,000 be imposed on their lawyers collectively. James' request came four weeks before trial in the lawsuit is set to begin in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan." (Also linked yesterday.)
Marie: In today's Comments, there's a good discussion of Project 2025: the Heritage Foundation's manifesto on how Donald Trump, upon resuming office, should take control of the federal government, dismantle it and replace career employees with people "loyal" to him and an extreme right-wing "vision." As Patrick notes, the "plan looks more Soviet than Stalin." Here's some more background on Project 2025 from the AP (Aug. 29). It even sounds Orwellian, doesn't it?
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Alabama. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "A panel of federal judges rejected Alabama's latest congressional map on Tuesday, ruling that a new map needed to be drawn because Republican lawmakers had failed to comply with orders to create a second majority-Black district or something 'close to it.' In a sharp rebuke, the judges ordered that the new map be independently drawn, taking the responsibility away from the Republican-controlled legislature while chastising state officials who 'ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy.'" NPR's story is here. MB: I believe the order ran along the lines of, "Don't you be fucking with federal judges, you weanie bigots." (Also linked yesterday.)
Georgia. Richard Luscombe of the Guardian: "Dozens of activists who oppose a controversial police and fire training facility in Georgia known as Cop City have been charged with racketeering, appearing to confirm fears from civil rights groups that prosecutors are stepping up an aggressive pursuit of environmental protesters. A total of 61 people -- most not from Georgia -- were indicted for violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act last week, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Some of the defendants face additional charges of money laundering and domestic terrorism, the newspaper reported. In July, a coalition of groups including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) wrote to the Department of Homeland Security decrying tactics used in authorities' surveillance of the environmental protesters, and their use of the label 'domestic violence extremism' for opponents of the $90m facility under construction on 85 acres of the South River Forest near Atlanta."
Rhode Island Congressional Race. Mariana Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Gabriel Amo, a former White House aide to President Biden, won a special congressional primary Tuesday for Rhode Island's 1st District, the Associated Press projected. Amo is heavily favored to keep the 1st District in Democratic hands in blue Rhode Island. On the Republican side, political newcomer Gerry Leonard, a Marine Corps veteran, won the special primary. If he wins the general election in November, Amo will become the first Black lawmaker to represent Rhode Island in the U.S. House. Rep. David N. Cicilline took the Democratic Party by surprise when he announced in February that he would leave his House seat to run Rhode Island's largest philanthropic organization. Shortly afterward, more than 20 Democrats filed to run for his seat. On Tuesday, 12 of them appeared on the ballot in what has become a turbulent special primary in the 1st Congressional District."
South Carolina. Shawn Nottingham, et al., of CNN: "Attorneys representing Alex Murdaugh, the notorious South Carolina fraudster who was convicted earlier this year of murdering his wife and son, filed a motion with the South Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday demanding a new trial and alleging jury tampering by the Colleton County Clerk of Court. The filing states that the Clerk of Court, Rebecca 'Becky' Hill, 'tampered with the jury by advising them not to believe Murdaugh's testimony and other evidence presented by the defense, pressuring them to reach a quick guilty verdict, and even misrepresenting critical and material information to the trial judge in her campaign to remove a juror she believed to be favorable to the defense.'... The motion cites at least three sworn affidavits, including one from a juror and one from a dismissed juror, as well as excerpts from Hill's book..., which was published last month." (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.
Texas. David Goodman, et al., of the New York Times: ";Ken Paxton, the Republican attorney general of Texas, pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption and bribery Tuesday on the opening day of his impeachment trial before the State Senate, the first such proceeding for a statewide officer in more than a century. Mr. Paxton, a third-term incumbent championed by hard-core conservatives and ... Donald J. Trump, is facing trial on 16 articles of impeachment related to accusations, primarily by his former top deputies who became whistle-blowers, that he had abused his office for the benefit of himself and an Austin real estate investor who was said to have assisted Mr. Paxton with home renovations and an extramarital affair.... On Tuesday, a majority of Republican Senators began the proceedings by voting to move forward with the trial, dispatching by wide margins multiple attempts by Mr. Paxton's lawyers to have the entire case dismissed."
** Wisconsin. Reid Epstein of the New York Times: "Republicans in Wisconsin are coalescing around the prospect of impeaching a newly seated liberal justice on the state's Supreme Court, whose victory in a costly, high-stakes election this spring swung the court in Democrats' favor and threatened the G.O.P.'s iron grip on state politics. The push, just five weeks after Justice Janet Protasiewicz joined the court and before she has heard a single case, serves as a last-ditch effort to stop the new 4-to-3 liberal majority from throwing out Republican-drawn state legislative maps and legalizing abortion in Wisconsin." Emphasis added.~~~
~~~ Marie: For Republicans, impeachment is not the price of violating laws, acting unethically or failing to carry out the duties of office, as it has been since the founding. Nope. It's one way to thumb your nose at democracy -- and specifically at voters -- and overturn the results of an election that didn't go your way. This is an astounding turn.
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Reader Comments (14)
The Times article (linked above) serves up this rather interesting detail about Texas AG (and self-serving crook) Ken Paxton, that he “…had abused his office for the benefit of himself and an Austin real estate investor who was said to have assisted Mr. Paxton with home renovations and an extramarital affair.”
Soooo…this real estate schmuck helped out Paxton with home renovation AND an extramarital affair? But probably not at the same time, right? “Hey Ken, look, here comes your girlfriend…I tell you what, here’s the hammer. You take care of this 2X4 and I’ll take care of her…” How exactly did he “help” with the affair? Did he provide the girlfriend? Act as a stand in on occasion? Book them rooms at the No Tell Motel? Send flowers when Kenny forgot her birthday? What?
But aside from the new rec room and the girlfriend on the side, ol’ Kenny boy is being charged with unfitness for office, disregard of official duties, abuse of the public trust, lying, corruption, and conspiracy. In other words your average Republican pol. So, same ol’ same ol’.
Got it. (But the girlfriend thing is still weird.)
@Akhilleus: The Texas Tribune explains the girlfriend thang.
Shouldn't already be feeling election angst about an election more than a year away but I am...Those polls do take a bite out of my confidence.
It should be obvious to everyone that when stripped of its culture war arsenal (in which I include immigration)d the Republican Party has no plan. The announced no platform for the 2020 election; they have done nothing in the Republican-controlled House but stir the political pot; and now we have Project 2025, which again says nothing about what Republicans want to do when they are in power beyond having a high ole time wielding it.
Here's the question Project 2025 begs: So we rip out the core of the big, bad administrative state and install party apparatchiks in their place. What will be their purpose? What we have them do?
Which regulations will we stop enforcing? Which laws will we ignore? What bad will we be making good? What improvement will we make in the lives of people who are not in power?
We know Republicans will do nothing about inflation but talk about it. And it's hard to imagine Republicans will do anything about the deficit because they might have to raise taxes on someone to do so...Nor, for the same reason, about income inequality. For them, there is no climate change, so they won't be bothered with that. Many don't want us supporting Ukraine with weapons but also wouldn't want to cut the military budget and irritate the defense industry...And what exactly do they have in mind to bring the out of control medical-industrial complex to heel?
As a friend used to ask: What's the plan, Stan?
I think I know why Republicans won't say. Their plan is no plan.
Maybe if we pronounced Project 2025 "Projection 2025" it would make more sense.
Hence my morning angst....
@Ken Winkes: Your friend probably co-opted a line from Paul Simon's "Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover": "Make a new plan, Stan."
Tough guys softened up…
So here we have the tough, aggressive, bare knuckle street brawler, insurrectionist thugs summoned by the Orange Monster to hang mike pence and keep him in power crying about how awful it is to be in prison.
Enrique Tarrio, just sentenced for his part in Fatty’s attempted coup complained about prison conditions during a short lock up two years ago, saying there were smoky hallways, bad food, and abusive guards. He cried that he feared for his life:Waaaahhhh!!
Now he has years to whine.
Then there’s not so Proud Boy Joe Biggs, also sentenced recently, sounding not so very big anymore:prison food is terrible!
Yes, boys…welcome to prison.
Inmates of probably the vast majority of prison systems in the US, along with advocates of prison reform have complained for decades about conditions during incarceration. And for decades “tough on crime” right wingers have not only told them all to shut their mouths and take it because they’re convicted criminals and too bad, but have insisted on passing more and more draconian laws guaranteeing more and longer prison sentences leading to severe overcrowding which is itself a prime reason for the worsening of life behind bars.
See, all this was perfectly fine as long as it was “those people” being locked up with keys thrown away. But now….”Waaaaah! Prison sucks!”
Too bad, assholes.
And for those waiting for the Dear Leader to pardon them….
Hahahahahaha…he asked you to overthrow the guv’mint for him. You didn’t get the job done, as far as he was concerned, and now he stands a fair chance of joining you all shuffling around the prison yard whining about how you’re all innocent choir boys, screwed by the Deep State. He has no further use for you. He’s only, as he always has been, concerned about his own flabby ass.
Clang! Welcome to the jungle. Feeling proud now?
Marie,
Thanks for that link clarifying the weird GF problem. Okay, so not so much weird as sordid. But I found this passage just slightly divorced from the reality of the devil’s bargain between the holy rollers and the hypocritical pols who power their dominance over everyone else:
“David Brockman, a nonresident scholar at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Religion and Public Policy, said Paxton had clear reasons to hide his infidelity.
‘Evidence of an extramarital affair would strike his supporters as hypocritical,’ he said. ‘He’s promoted himself as a conservative Christian, a defender of biblical values and a guardian of conservative Christian sexual morality. So there’s quite a bit of impetus to keep it secret.’”
David, David, David…these people are just as hypocritical as stink bug slime mold like Paxton. If this supposition was even a tiny bit true none of these people would ever vote for Trump, who, in the criming department, makes a lying, corrupt, depraved douchebag like Paxton look like a piker.
No. They’re fine with assholes like Paxton taking his secret Uber rides to canoodle with his girlfriend-on-the-side as long as he maintains his phony holier than thou public persona while owning the godless libs. And even when these scumbags are outed, all they need to do is go to one of those mega-churches, say “The devil made me do it” and go right back to corruption and canoodling. Christ, Trump never apologizes for any of his zillions of crimes and these fucking people would lie down in traffic for him.
Sooo…impeach the Dems before they even take office. Sounds like a plan! Yeah. A plan for off the chain authoritarianism.
Some years ago, Steven Spielberg released the film “Minority Report” based on a novella by Philip K. Dick, the iconoclastic master of metaphysical sci-fi paranoia, in other words, a really fun, if slightly scary guy to read.
In the world of “Minority Report”, people were arrested and imprisoned for stuff they hadn’t even done…yet. Or maybe would never do. The idea was that in an autocratic, deterministic culture, freedom is highly contingent. And that brings us to actual authoritarians as opposed to fictional ones. I give you Wisconsin Republicans, who have dispensed with their own minority report and have gone straight to “lock her up” (or at least “lock her out”) status.
“Oooh the people have elected this person and we can’t trust that she won’t let us be dictatorial anymore. Aieee! Impeach!
As funny as this seems—maybe in some other, more rational world—we don’t live in that world anymore. We live in the “heads we win, tails you lose” Party of Traitors parallel universe. At the Autocrats R Us store, the customer is only right if she buys exactly what the Rs are selling.
And “democracy” has been stripped from the shelves. Philip K. Dick would be proud: his worst paranoia nightmare prediction come true.
From CNN
"Further complicating the situation: Wisconsin Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu, a Republican, has said the chamber would not consider acting on Protasiewicz. If the Assembly votes to impeach the justice and the Senate were to convict and remove her from office, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers would appoint her replacement. But if the Senate takes no action at all, she would be suspended from all official duties – leaving the court deadlocked, 3-3."
Akhilleus,
"Minority Report" on minority government?
Brings back fading memories. I once met one of Phil Dick's daughters (I'd say she was about ten at the time) when visiting one of my wife's family's acquaintances in Marin County (or was it Sonoma?) CA.
I said nothing to her about her father's writing and I'm sure she took no note of me, (why would she?) but I remember her because of her father's presence in my life...
Memory is a funny thing. This one reminds me of Cellini and the salamander.
http://www.strangehistory.net/2012/05/26/cellini-and-the-salamander/
Ah, Wisconsin. Something like 50% of voters vote Dem, but with the gerrymandering from 2010, Dems hold something like 30% of the legislature. So it tells you something when we can elect a democratic judge: WE WANT HER ON THE SUPREME COURT!
Haha, good luck with that when the repubs still have all the power.
Speaking of RWNJ plans, as we were yesterday, recall that in 2020 the GOP decided to eschew a platform, but just nodded to DiJiT and told the waiter "we'll have what he's having."
BUT ... there is a platform of every thing a good ol' boy wants out of electoral victory. It's the Texas GOP Platform. It's 59 pages long because, well, they want to make sure all of the donors' decades of giving are annotated and honored. Add it all up, and Tejas would have to secede to effect all this crap, then internally implode. Back to Judge Roy Bean govt.
Read, enjoy.
Okay, okay, hang on…
One was just kinda like a big, smelly lumpy thing. Another was kinda yellow with green things sticking out. There were a bunch that were eeewww, runny and gross; a bunch were just drippy and brown, and one had a rat head in the middle. Jesus, what was this guy eating? And that’s about it for my review of Martin Luther’s feces. Do I get in? Do I get liberals in NY, Boston, and San Francisco to pay for a full boot scholarship?
Loved the part where these CLT Christianists say “logic is important”. Really? Hold on…hahahahaha…memorization I get, because rote memorization is the polar opposite of critical thinking and logic. Had they said they were interested in looking at Scholastics like Aquinas and Anselm, I might say “Okay, well those guys weren’t knee jerk dogmatic douchebags”, but I’m betting the CLT true believers are way more Savonarola and Torquemada than they are Aquinas. Otherwise, a schmucky little conniver like DeSantolini wouldn’t demand that state, tax supported schools adopt these shithead shibboleths as sops to the Christian nationalist haters of democracy.
Oh look! There’s a big giant turd! And it’s in the shape of a name…wait a minute…that turd is wearing white go-go boots! Must be “RON”
Calling out the bullshit. Gloria Johnson's campaign ad against Blackburn.
Thanks RAS. I would love to see her debate the gun enablers. For that matter, Jim Jefferies would do, too.