;)
The Conversation -- September 8, 2023
Marie: Excellent commentary in today's thread, particularly in regard to the Supreme's ruling on the poor, mistreated praying football coach (well, one-time football coach). Also see Patrick's commentary on Donald the Sun King; it turns out Trump & Louis have more in common than their affinity for the rococo.
** Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "... a judge rejected an effort by Mark Meadows, [Donald] Trump's former White House chief of staff, to move his case from state court to federal court.... The ruling, by Judge Steve C. Jones of the Northern District of Georgia, does not bode well for [other Georgia defendants who are expected to attempt to have their cases moved to federal court]" Meadows is likely to appeal the ruling. ~~~
~~~ Marie: So despite what we all may have assumed, even in a Trump administration, criminal activity is not a part of the written job description for chief-of-staff.
Dareh Gregorian, et al., of NBC News: "... Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court. In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' after having taken an oath to support the Constitution."
Justice Alito's decision to dress up some misguided views of his ethical obligations as a formal Court opinion doesn't make the missive any more correct or any less imperious. -- Gabe Roth of Fix the Courts ~~~
~~~ Tierney Sneed of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sharply rejected calls from Democratic senators that he not participate in an upcoming tax case where one of the lawyers involved also participated in recent Wall Street Journal interviews of the conservative jurist. Alito, in a court filing Friday, said the argument for him to recuse was 'unsound' and that there was 'no valid reason' for him not to participate in the case. 'When Mr. Rivkin participated in the interviews and co-authored the articles, he did so as a journalist, not an advocate,' Alito wrote, referring to David B. Rivkin, the opinion journalist in question who is representing one of the parties in the tax case.... Alito on Friday contended that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate Judiciary Chairman who led the calls for Alito to sit out in the case, was apparently pushing a theory for recusal that 'fundamentally misunderstands the circumstances under which Supreme Court Justices must work.'" MB: I don't know why all you little people can't see that Sam is the reincarnation of Caesar's wife.
Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "A special grand jury that investigated election interference allegations in Georgia recommended indicting a number of Trump allies who were not charged, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the former senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, and Michael Flynn, a former national security adviser. In its final report, which a judge unsealed on Friday, the panel also recommended charges against Boris Epshteyn, one of ... Donald J. Trump's main lawyers, as well as a number of other Trump-aligned lawyers, including Cleta Mitchell and Lin Wood. ~~~
~~~ CNN: "A Georgia judge has released the full final report from the special grand jury that investigated Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election in the state. The panel recommended charges against GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former GOP Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler of Georgia. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis did not charge them in the indictment last month against Trump and 18 other co-defendants." The linked page is a CNN liveblog that covers this & other matters related to the Georgia RICO case. ~~~
"The Georgia special grand jury had recommended charges against 39 people as part of their 2020 election interference probe. Ultimately, 21 people on the list were not charged. One other person -- Michael Roman, whose name did not appear in the report -- was also charged by the Fulton County district attorney." This entry lists all the people the special grand jury recommended for indictment. ~~~
~~~ Politico's story is here. You can read the full special grand jury report here, via Politico. (CNN also has republished the report on its liveblog, but you'll have to scroll down to find it.
Paul Kane & Amy Wang of the Washington Post: "Former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Friday that she will run for reelection in 2024 for her San Francisco-area House seat, ending speculation about her political future after she decided last year she would step down as the leader of the House Democratic caucus."
Texas. So Much for Minimally Humane Treatment. Zoe Richards of NBC News: "A federal appeals court Thursday put on hold a judge's order from earlier this week requiring Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to remove a floating barrier from the middle of the Rio Grande. The 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals allowed Abbott, a Republican, to leave in place for now the 1,000-foot barrier the state installed to deter illegal migrant crossings. The order was issued by a three-judge panel of two Democratic appointees and a Republican appointee."
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Katie Rogers & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Biden is set to arrive in New Delhi on Friday for a global summit meeting where he will present the United States as an economic and strategic counterweight to China and Russia, taking advantage of the absence of leaders from those two countries, who are skipping the gathering. Mr. Biden is bringing with him the promise of up to $200 billion in new development funds for climate change, food security, public health and other infrastructure needs in less developed countries through revamped international financing institutions like the World Bank, leveraged by a relatively small investment by the United States."
Lisa Friedman of the New York Times: "President Biden's decision on Wednesday to block drilling on millions of acres of Alaskan tundra was the latest in a series of aggressive actions recently taken by the administration to curtail fossil fuel extraction on public land and in federal waters. Over the past several months, the administration has moved to bar drilling on 1.8 million acres of sagebrush steppe in Wyoming and on more than a million acres of public land in Colorado. It insulated more than 336,400 acres of public land around Chaco Culture National Historical Park from new oil and gas leasing and mining claims for the next two decades. And last month, it said it would remove about six million acres of potentially oil-rich areas from an upcoming federal lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico that is required by law.... Several people close to the administration said Mr. Biden was personally stung by the outraged response in March from climate voters, particularly young environmentalists, after he approved the enormous Willow oil project in Alaska and that he is eager to win them back.... It's a strategy that comes with political risks as oil prices rise and Republicans and at least one Democrat, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, seek to paint Mr. Biden as a radical environmentalist."
Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "Jill Biden, the first lady, tested negative for the coronavirus on Thursday, the White House said, putting an apparent end to a minor health scare that had threatened to upend President Biden's trip to a Group of 20 summit in India. The announcement came shortly before Mr. Biden departed the White House for his trip to New Delhi, where he plans to lobby world leaders on matters that include condemning Russia's war with Ukraine and curbing China's financial influence over poorer countries. The president also tested negative for the virus on Thursday, as he had throughout the week."
Lauren Feiner of CNBC: "The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Democrat Anna Gomez to the Federal Communications Commission, breaking the deadlock at the agency that has lasted the entirety of the Biden presidency. The vote in favor was 55-43. Gomez's confirmation comes after a protracted battle to confirm [President] Biden's initial pick for the commissioner seat, Gigi Sohn. As senators remained split on her confirmation, the FCC was left in a 2-2 deadlock of Republican and Democratic commissioners, limiting its agenda to items that both sides could agree on. With the arrival of Gomez, a telecom attorney who's previously worked in several positions at the FCC and in the private sector, the agency has the opportunity to pursue actions without the support of the Republican commissioners. That could include a push to return to net neutrality rules...." (Also linked yesterday.)
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Cockeyed Optimist David Brooks of the New York Times: "Two megatrends have shaped American life since the 1980s: The rise of China and the hollowing out of American industry.... But it's beginning to look as if those two megatrends are reversing.... As the Chinese economy deflates, American industry is looking less hollow.... There's a lot of resilience and dynamism in America's brand of broadly free market capitalism.... Bidenomics is working -- big time. President Biden promised to help America outcompete authoritarian China and to heal some of the economic divides at home. Both those goals are being achieved.... Right-wing populists are hopelessly outdated." ~~~
~~~ Paul Krugman of the New York Times: "If President Biden loses his bid for re-election, a key factor will be the widespread perception that the economy is doing badly on his watch.... The strange thing is that these bad ratings are persisting even as the economy, by any normal measure, has been doing extremely well.... While most Americans feel that they're doing OK, they believe that the economy is doing badly, where 'the economy' presumably means other people.... What explains negativity about a good economy? Partisanship is surely a factor: Republicans' assessment of the current economy roughly matches what it was in June 1980, when unemployment was twice as high and inflation four times as high as they are now."
Matthew Chapman of the Raw Story: "Former federal prosecutor Shan Wu Thursday criticized special counsel David Weiss' planned gun charge against Hunter Biden in an article for The Daily Beast, accusing him and the DOJ of 'casting about' for any excuse to make an indictment stick to the president's son amid political pressure. 'Special Counsel Weiss' plan to indict Hunter Biden now over the gun charges is both ill-timed and ill-advised. It's ill-timed because it comes in the wake of a federal court of appeals striking down as unconstitutional the very gun federal law that Biden may be charged with violating -- a decision that was pending at the time of the failed plea deal in July, but which has since been decided,' wrote Wu.... 'Now, however, Biden's defense team is likely to challenge the constitutionality of the charges.' Additionally, Wu argued, the new gun indictment 'is also ill-advised because the defense has a colorable argument that DOJ cannot renege on the diversion agreement.'"
Trump Crime Family Blotter
Marie: I'm leaving the links to the stories about Peter Navarro just as I came upon the reports yesterday afternoon because the bottom line brought me so much pleasure. So I apologize for the prequel. Sort of: ~~~
~~~ Zach Montague of the New York Times: "A federal jury in Washington began deliberating on Thursday in the criminal trial of Peter Navarro, a top aide to ... Donald J. Trump, who is charged with contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena last year from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. In delivering closing arguments, prosecutors and defense lawyers largely agreed on the facts in the case: that Mr. Navarro balked when ordered to cooperate with the panel. But in contention was whether that act amounted to a willful defiance of Congress, or a simple misunderstanding between Mr. Navarro and the committee's staff.... 'The defendant chose allegiance to President Trump over compliance with the subpoena,' [prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi] said. 'That is contempt. That is a crime.' Stanley Woodward Jr., a lawyer for Mr. Navarro, countered that the government had simply failed to show that Mr. Navarro's decision not to comply was anything other than 'inadvertence, accident or mistake.'" (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: What? He "accidentally" failed to comply with a lawful subpoena? Well, oopsies. ~~~
~~~ Later That Same Afternoon. Oh look, the story has been updated: "Peter Navarro ... was convicted on Thursday of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress over his defiance of a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The verdict, coming after nearly four hours of deliberation in Federal District Court in Washington, made Mr. Navarro the second top adviser of Mr. Trump's to be found guilty of contempt for defying the committee's inquiry. Stephen K. Bannon, a former strategist for Mr. Trump who was convicted of the same offense last summer, faces four months in prison and is appealing his conviction, as Mr. Navarro has also vowed to do." (Also linked yesterday.) The AP story is here. ~~~
~~~ Marie: Navarro's loser lawyer here is the ubiquitous Trump-approved attorney Stanley Woodward. If I were, for instance, Walt Nauta, whose lawyer also is Stanley Woodward, I'd be a'wondering if I should follow in the footsteps of fellow Mar-a-Lardo employee Yuscil Taveras who flipped when he switched lawyers -- from Woodward to a public defender -- and cut a cooperation deal with Jack Smith that spares Taveras prosecution. As far as we know, Taveras did not have direct contact with Trump about the scheme to obstruction justice in the classified documents case. But Nauta did get instructions directly from Trump, so he has something significant to sell to Smith.
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "John Eastman, testifying at his own disbarment trial, sidestepped a question Wednesday about whether he and others in ... Donald Trump's orbit discussed the possibility that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) -- rather than Mike Pence -- would preside over the Jan. 6, 2021, session of Congress. During several hours of sworn testimony in a California disbarment proceeding, Eastman said discussions on that topic were protected by attorney-client privilege. When pressed about which client of his he was referring to, Eastman replied: 'President Trump.'... Despite his criminal risk, Eastman fielded dozens of questions for hours on Wednesday, declining to assert his Fifth Amendment rights and only occasionally asserting attorney-client privilege.... The exchange [about Grassley] underscores that there are still significant unknown details about the behind-the-scenes planning by Trump and his allies ahead of Jan. 6. Grassley started a furor on Jan. 5, 2021, when he told reporters of Pence 'we don't expect him to be there, I will be presiding over the Senate.' His comments prompted an urgent rush by Pence's staff to correct the record, eventually resulting in a statement from Grassley's office indicating the senator had been 'misinterpreted' and was merely saying he might fill in for Pence during some portions of the proceedings that day." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Marie: Worth reading if, like me, you forgot or never knew of how deeply Grassley may have been in on the insurrection plot. I was aware there was "talk" about Grassley's replacing pence as President of the Senate but not about Grassley's accidentally sharing his plans to preside over the Electoral College count.
With Due Respect, You Ignorant Nitwit, Up Yours. Richard Fausset & Danny Hakim of the New York Times: "Soon after the [Fulton County, Georgia,] district attorney, Fani T. Willis, a Democrat, announced last month that she was bringing a racketeering case against [Donald] Trump and 18 other defendants for their efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, [Rep. Jim] Jordan, a Republican and chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said that he was going to investigate Ms. Willis over whether her prosecution of Mr. Trump was politically motivated. In [a] letter [to Mr. Jordan], Ms. Willis accused Mr. Jordan of trying 'to obstruct a Georgia criminal proceeding and to advance outrageous partisan misrepresentations,' and of not understanding how the state's racketeering law works. 'Your attempt to invoke congressional authority to intrude upon and interfere with an active criminal case in Georgia is flagrantly at odds with the Constitution,' she added. 'The defendants in this case have been charged under state law with committing state crimes. There is absolutely no support for Congress purporting to second guess or somehow supervise an ongoing Georgia criminal investigation and prosecution.'" A CNBC story is here. (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
~~~ Willis's letter to Jordan appears in the CNBC story; it's easier to read here, via CNBC. And it's a doozy, nearly every sentence dripping with contempt for Jungle Gym. Marie: I heard a sober former prosecutor fault Willis for her tone. I don't fault her at all. She, her family and her staff have been harassed & threatened by the Trump Crime Family, and she has a right to be furious with the whole criminal enterprise, from Trump to Jordan to the crybaby Proud Boys. ~~~
~~~ Marie: I wonder if Willis's withering letter taught Gym Jordan a lesson. Hahahahahaha. ~~~
~~~ Rebecca Beitsch of the Hill: "House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday asked special counsel Jack Smith to turn over information relating to attorney Stanley Woodward, who has represented numerous Mar-a-Lago employees in dealings with prosecutors. Woodward is in the midst of a battle with the Justice Department as it seeks a so-called Garcia hearing to review potential conflicts as Woodward represents Walt Nauta, former President Trump's co-defendant in the classified records case.... Woodward railed against prosecutors in a late Tuesday filing, complaining the cooperation agreement was only offered to Taveras once he spoke with outside counsel."
Andrew Kaczynski & Em Steck of CNN: "In a December 2020 radio interview..., Meshawn Maddock, one of the 16 fake electors in Michigan charged by the state attorney general for the alleged scheme [to overturn the Electoral College results], detailed the Trump campaign-directed plan and said the crucial decision on which electors to use would ultimately rest with a constitutional attorney and Vice President Mike Pence and Congress. The newly uncovered interview reveals Maddock's detailed knowledge of the Trump campaign's involvement in the plot and undermines her more recent comments claiming only a 'vague' recollection of [the plot].... Her newly uncovered comments about Pence show her understanding that the slate of fake electors could eventually usurp the legitimate elector votes on January 6, 2021. Despite Trump losing the state by more than 150,000 votes, Maddock and 15 others signed phony certificates claiming to be the legitimate electors from the state just days before the interview and attempted to enter their state capitol to deliver the votes." (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race 2024
Mike Memoli of NBC News: "President Joe Biden's reelection campaign is highlighting the most high-stakes journey of his presidency -- a surprise visit to Ukraine in February -- to make the case for what it calls the 'quiet strength of a true leader' while drawing a major foreign policy contrast with the GOP. The new, 60-second advertisement will air in battleground states this weekend during the prime-time broadcast of '60 Minutes' while Biden is due to attend the G-20 Summit here, a gathering of leaders of the world's largest economies that won't include two geopolitical rivals, Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping." (Also linked yesterday.) ~~~
Joe v. the Biggest Liar. Isaac Arnsdorf of the Washington Post: "'Manchurian candidate.' 'Stone-cold thief.' 'Dumb son of a b----.'... Donald Trump is, by his own admission, attacking President Biden in increasingly vicious terms. The attacks on Biden center on allegations that are exaggerated or unfounded, frequently drawing on right-wing media reports about the foreign business dealings of Biden's son Hunter Biden. The president has denied any involvement in his son's affairs, and no evidence has emerged proving otherwise."
Trumpettes Say Leading a Violent Attempt to Overturn a U.S. Presidential Election Is Not So Bad. Maggie Astor of the New York Times: "At least two Republican presidential candidates [-- Ron Desantis & Vivek Ramaswamy --] are criticizing as excessive recent prison sentences for members of the far-right Proud Boys involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, casting the defendants as victims of an unfair justice system rather than leading participants in an effort to disrupt the peaceful transition of power."
Nnamdi Egwuonwu of NBC News: "Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican presidential candidate, suggested at a Thursday campaign stop in New Hampshire that recent headlines about his relationship status were the result of his opponents' planting stories." MB: Tim, nearly every elected official in your party -- including you -- is a corrupt liar, so of course your opponents are "planting" stories. It's how you-all roll.
Katherine Rosman of the New York Times: "At Columbia University..., former secretary of state [Hillary Clinton] is teaching a class and starting an institute on global decision-making."
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Pennsylvania. Campbell Robertson, et al., of the New York Times: "With [convicted murderer Danelo] Cavalcante eluding authorities for more than a week now, scrutiny has turned to the jailbreaks at Chester County Prison. The key failing in last week's escape was that an officer in the tower, charged with watching over the inmates in the exercise yard, did not appear to notice Mr. Cavalcante.... The officer who was in the watchtower at the time of the escape had been placed on administrative leave, [acting warden Howard] Holland said.... In a country full of jails and prisons, staffing issues are the central challenge facing corrections facilities, experts say, and prison officials have cited them as a primary factor in some escapes.... In Pennsylvania, the number of escapes from county jails seems to have ticked up this year."
Kate McGee & Robert Downen of the Texas Tribune: "Ryan Bangert did not want to report his boss, Attorney General Ken Paxton, to the FBI. A bona fide ultraconservative and former Paxton donor, the onetime deputy first assistant attorney general believed in Paxton and the office, calling it a national 'beacon' of the conservative legal movement. But, as Bangert detailed in crisp, riveting testimony during Thursday's impeachment trial proceedings, he reluctantly concluded that Paxton's repeated and escalating use of the office to help his friend and political donor Nate Paul left him and other senior staff with no option but to report the behavior to the FBI.... Over two days of testimony, Bangert walked senators through nine months of Paxton's 'alarming' 2020 behavior, saying he repeatedly expressed concerns with Paxton over his demands to work on Paul's behalf."
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** Elon Musk Is a Horrible Human Being, Episode 287. Christian Davenport & Joseph Menn of the Washington Post: "SpaceX cut off Starlink satellite internet service to Ukrainian submarine drones last year just as they were launching an attack on the Russian Black Sea Fleet, according to a new biography of SpaceX founder Elon Musk.... Ukrainian and American officials scrambled to get service restored, according to the report, appealing to Musk directly. Musk eventually agreed.... The new details of the previously reported incident underscore how dependent multiple governments have become on a man who controls both a dominant means of high-speed communication and a major platform for public discourse, X.
News Lede
Washington Post: "Hurricane Lee intensified with breakneck speed Thursday over record-warm Atlantic waters, its peak winds catapulting from 80 to 160 mph in just 18 hours. Lee is now a top tier Category 5 hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center, and will probably strengthen even more. The Hurricane Center described Lee's intensification as 'exceptional' and predicted the storm's peak winds will close in on 180 mph by Friday morning -- joining some of the most infamously strong hurricanes on record in the Atlantic.... Lee's long-term forecast track is uncomfortably close to eastern New England, which should continue monitoring the storm as shifts in its course are probable." The Weather Channel's report is here.
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Reader Comments (16)
In a story (linked above) about Biden putting the kibosh on plans laid by Trump and his buddies in the carbon spewing fossil fuel industries to Swiss cheese the Alaskan wilderness in hopes of further accelerating global warming, there is a line in there reminding readers that such actions protective of the planet cause Republicans and Joe Manchin (same thing, really) to label the President a “radical environmentalist”.
More to the point, these guys think of any and all environmentalists as “radical”.
Marie,
Agree about the Willis letter. She has every right to display rancor, and contempt is only natural when dealing with the likes of a contemptible Gym.
Also think that while the Willis letter may have been impolitic as one MSNBC voice opined (Mary somebody?) and poor legal strategy, if impolitic were never allowed there would be no comedy, only tragedy in our lives.
Of course, I loved the letter.
Lies, subterfuge, underhanded schemes…it’s all good for Jesus!
Okay, so you all remember that football coach who forced his players to join gigantic prayer circles, the case that went to the Supreme Court (because why wouldn’t it?) whereat the hard core Court for Jesus found for the coach?
Oh, I know…it’s just one of many decisions that court has made toward the goal of shoving their religious beliefs down our collective throat. It’s hard to keep them straight.
Well, it looks like that case of the praying coach was pretty much 90% scam, a case picked up by the holy rollers on the court in an attempt to install forced Christian prayers in public schools.
This, from Slate:
“Last year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a high school football coach’s right to engage in “brief, quiet, personal” prayer—despite photographic evidence that his prayers were drawn-out, loud, and extremely public. At the time, the decision was embarrassing enough, as it rested on the fiction that the coach, Joe Kennedy*, was reprimanded for ‘private religious expression’ when he was actually establishing huge prayer circles in the middle of the field. Since then, the situation has only further exposed the shameful artifice of the ruling.”
As part of the suit against the horrible, godless public school, the coach and his lawyers insisted he be reinstated. His honor was at stake, goddamit!
The Supremes, in their Savonarola wisdom agreed to everything. The coach won his case (Praise Jesus!—not that horrible US Constitution…). The coach came back. He coached one game. Then! ”…he quit, as the Seattle Times reported on Wednesday. He has no evident desire to exercise the rights that his lawyers fought for over years of litigation. Those lawyers, however, will walk away with $1.775 million in attorneys’ fees, paid out by the school district.” In other words, fees paid by taxpayers to support religion in public schools.
Just what the Supremes want!
By the way, Coach Pray or Else doesn’t need that piddling coaching job anymore, he’s a hero now. He’s joined the far right religious grift machine as a highly paid guest speaker at Christianist events. He met mike pence, the American Legion gave him a rifle with his name inscribed on it (presumably to shoot students who refuse to pray). He’s set.
See, the Case of the Praying Coach is just one of a number of scams used by the Supreme Court, pushed by something called the Alliance Defending Freedom (*choke*) in an effort to ramrod their version of Christianity into the pubic sphere.
But there’s more…
“It’s all too reminiscent of 303 Creative. In that case, a website designer named Lorie Smith said Colorado’s nondiscrimination law forced her to make wedding websites for same-sex couples—if asked. But she was never asked! Smith’s lawyers at Alliance Defending Freedom claimed that one gay couple, Stewart and Mike, indicated some vague interest in engaging her services. They seized upon this allegation as proof that Smith might imminently discriminate, break the law, and face penalties. One day before the decision, though, the New Republic’s Melissa Gira Grant reported that Stewart and Mike do not exist. They were made up. Smith’s entire business, too, had tenuous roots in reality; it seemed to exist largely to serve as a test case for Alliance Defending Freedom. Mission accomplished. None of these deceptions stopped the court’s hard-right supermajority from siding with the web designer.”
Did you get that? That gay cake scare (ooooooohh!!! So scary! Gay guys want a cake!) was all MADE UP! The Supremes didn’t care, however. It was another scam they could use to religify the nation.
Just imagine if the opposite were true…that a group wanting to keep the public sphere free from the clutches of religion invented a fictional storyline to make that happen…maybe Stewart and Mike were at it again…
But wait…they wouldn’t need to do that. The Constitution does it for them! It says no establishment of religion. None. End of story. Period. Hard NO.
Oh, but that’s only if the Supreme Court abides by the FUCKING CONSTITUTION!
*Another pain in the ass Joe Kennedy.
The Fani Willis letter? A thing of beauty. A model of instruction for the ignorant narcissist. A drop kick in the Gym groin.
I’m reminded of another excellent example of the FU letter, Dr. Johnson’s FU to Lord Chesterfield who at the last minute, wanted to fork over a pittance of support when it was no longer needed, then take credit for Johnson’s years spent working on his dictionary of the English language.
As fun as the Johnson letter was, it was an FU to a tin horn noble. Willis’ FU letter is directed to a self aggrandizing scumbag in the House of Representatives attempting to intervene to save a traitor from his well deserved legal comeuppance.
FU, Gym.
Signed,
AG Fani Willis
Oh, 😭!
Those nice Proud Boys, going to prison for years, just for being good MAGAts. 😞
Let’s see, what would be a less unfaaaiirr punishment?
How about writing 100 times on the blackboard, “I shall not try to overthrow the government and hang the Vice President.”
What? Too harsh? How ‘bout 50 times? 20? What? Too many words? They’re not used to writing so many words? It’s cruel and unusual?
So what’s your idea?
“I am a Patriot!” once?
Jesus. Okay, Ron.
Decadence
"a populace determined to be dissatisfied isn’t capable of self-government in the long run. It will continually seek change. Over time, it will become open to ever more extreme changes. It will lose the ability to make rational, outcome-based choices. And it will become susceptible to strongmen and demagogues because these figures create scapegoats and targets for dissatisfaction.
Historically speaking, strongmen and demagogues have arisen in times of stress, calamity, and desperation. It is an example of American exceptionalism that our own confrontation with authoritarianism has emerged during a time of peace and almost unimaginable prosperity."
Georgia "Grand jury called for indicting Sens. Graham, Perdue, Loeffler in Trump Georgia election case"
"IRS announced on Friday it is launching an effort to aggressively pursue 1,600 millionaires and 75 large business partnerships that owe hundreds of millions of dollars in past due taxes."
Judd Legum copied in Wonkette has a good take on the grifting hypocrisy of Coach Kennedy, and swipes the SCOTUS again for ignoring facts in favor of supporting Christian demos in public places.
The other day we discussed Project 2024, which is Heritage's plan to purge the federal senior bureaucracy and flood the zone with true-believing religio-federalist-conservo noncognoscenti. I noted that running a government as a tool of "the Party" is Order of Lenin-worthy Sovietniki.
But all autocracies have similar features, so such an ideological wankfest would also resemble the court of the Sun King, Louis XIV. In addition to over-the-top gilt rococo furniture (So Tr*mpy!), we would get the court intrigue for the favor and grace of the monarch and his favorites (who would fall in and out of favor as the mood swings). Jostling for preference and plum appointment would become the prime activity of those involved with government. Backstabbing and blackmail make for entertaining literature, but really crappy government.
Avoiding the ills of court intrigue was one of the prime motives of those who devised the constitution, and later the many regulations it engendered. The Civil Service system was created after almost 100 years of failure of parties to manage the evils of the spoils system. President Garfield died for such failure. Removing most appointments from the authority of political office-holders freed them from the pressures of multiple office seekers lobbying for jobs, which easily consumed immense amounts of time and political capital. And the Heritage Project 2024 people think its a good idea to revert to that mayhem.
But back to Louis Quatorze, who has a good quote on the subject:
"Every time I create an appointment, I create a hundred malcontents and one ingrate."
– Louis XIV
Project 2024, Schedule F, would flood the zone with malcontents, and most of their malcontents own weapons.
Maybe they should think this through.
Projection, projection, projection, til the cows come home, and long after that til what’s left is an all beef patty on a sesame seed bun. Ketchup and pickles, extra.
In the Wonkette piece linked by Patrick there’s a reference to Coach Martyr’s lawyers being on Fox with Hannity:
“The day of the [Supreme Court] ruling [that Coach Martyr was a hero for Jesus and should get his job back, toot sweet], Fox News host Sean Hannity expressed doubts the district would follow through. But one of Kennedy’s lawyers clarified that they had no choice: ‘We’re ready to have that fight. If they want to defy the Supreme Court, I think they’re gonna realize they made a serious mistake.’”
So, with zero evidence that the district would ignore the Supreme Court ruling (they had already prepared the paperwork to reinstate Coach Martyr), Hannity tosses out some red meat to the droolers sitting in their BarcaLoungers at home hooked up via IV to Fox, that the evil school district would disobey Jesus and give the coach more lashes on the back on his way to Calvary. Plus, he gave the mouthpieces a chance to flex and act all big and bad. The whole magilla is like a medieval passion play. Everyone knows the story is pre-written, the lines are baked in, everyone knows the drill, but they go through it anyway.
But here’s the catch.
The only group that routinely thumbs their nose at Supreme Court rulings is the Party of Traitors. The only group that reflexively and routinely flouts laws they don’t like sits squarely on the right. So that whiny bullshit about “Maybe they won’t do what the court says” is pure projection.
Again.
Patrick: "Maybe they should think this through."
But that they won't, don't, or can't is a RW earmark.
Akhilleus,
You mean something like Alabama's recent redistricting FU to the SCOTUS?
Ken,
Exactly. And there’s also the general sense on the right that laws, rules, and regulations don’t apply to them, people like Navarro, Bannon, and of course Trump, who are astounded to find out that they actually can be held accountable for their crimes. This arrogance is endemic on the right, see for instance the outrage exhibited by Fox hacks who are stunned to learn that Proud Boy thugs can be sentenced to prison for trying to overthrow the government.
I'm linking this tweex because it introduces the name "Trump Chihuahua" to hang on Gym Jordan. Yappy little lapdog. Make it so.
Chihuahua lovers please don't write back.
Also, the tweex is from a "Jack E. Smith" but despite appearances, it is a parody not the actual Prosecutorial Rottweiler, taking a bite out of crime.
Whoops, the dog ate my link! Here you go:
https://balloon-juice.com/2023/09/08/fani-willis-claps-back-at-trump-chihuahua-jim-jordan/
@Patrick: It is possible that Gym Jordan would be uphappy to be cast as a "yappy little lapdog." But what's intolerable? Implying he's a Mexican immigrant.
@Marie, those (white) German Rottweilers are so much more respectable.