Mostly Monday Reads: Mass Deportation and Fascism

Posted: October 14, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: 2024 Elections, 2024 presidential Campaign | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

“The Trump campaign kicks into high gear.” John Buss, @repeat1968″

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

How the Presidential Race is neck and neck is beyond my comprehension. I will quote from The Bulwark’s William Kristol again for the nitty gritty numbers.  “Trump’s Midnight In America. He’s not hiding his authoritarianism. He’s selling it.”

“Three weeks and a day until election day, and this thing is tied, tied, tied. Nate Silver’s polling average has Kamala Harris up a tick under three points nationally—which might give Donald Trump the barest of edges at this moment in the Electoral College. Meanwhile, the last stragglers are starting to tune in: This race gets decided now. Happy Monday.”

A friend from back in the day suggested I watch this Bulwark Podcast from last week. I did last night. “He’s TRULY AWFUL in EVERY Way, Don’t Let Him Off the Hook (w/ Timothy Snyder) | The Bulwark Podcast.”  Tim Miller, who is from up the road from me in the Freret neighborhood, defines freedom well with Dr. Tim Snyder.  Snyder also uses his background in fascism, which typified a lot of Western thought before and during World War 2.  Snyder also let slip that we know Trump’s German family there stayed served and included a few NAZI war criminals. That didn’t surprise me in the least.

I’m beyond shocked by anything that comes out of DonOld and his cult, including “Swastika Flags being flown in Trump’s Boat Parade in Florida.” This Newsweek headline popped up minutes after starting this post.

A boat bearing swastika symbols and Donald Trump flags was hosed down after trying to join a Trump boat parade in Jupiter, Florida.

The boat was photographed attempting to take part in the parade on Sunday in the Republican presidential candidate’s home county of Palm Beach.

One onlooker, Lesley Abravnel, posted on social platform X at 1:49 p.m. eastern time: “Near Palm Beach right now. All Nazis are Trump voters. Sickening.” Abravnel, who has 70,000 followers and supports Kamala Harris, posted two pictures of five people on board a boat with Nazi flags.

Joy Reid posted this on Threads yesterday.  “Explain #latinosfortrump to me, like I’m five.”  I had to respond with a video I found last night that blew my mind. You can watch the short part on the video link or get the entire gist of things by watching the video below. What you will see is this Mexican immigrant who bragged that she came in legally and says that all of her cousins, nieces, and nephews who have been here for decades should be deported.  They are angry at her and won’t speak to her, but she laughs.  I guess she thinks it won’t happen to her.  But she is wrong.

With border crossings reaching record highs in recent years, US immigration has returned as the election’s most toxic issue. As Donald Trump continues to push a policy of mass deportation, and Kamala Harris responds by shifting further to the right, what happens to the people caught in the middle trying to seek a better life? The Guardian’s Oliver Laughland and Tom Silverstone head to Arizona’s southern border with Mexico to investigate

By the time I got to writing this post, I had to add an additional source to my comment to Joy.  This is from Lisa Needham, who is writing for Public Notice. “Trump targets immigrants legally in US for deportation.  Having protected status may not save you.”  If DonOld gets elected, that lady will get a big surprise as she will be herded up with the family that now hates her and left to languish in a country that she doesn’t know anymore.

As the 2024 election heads into the home stretch, Donald Trump and JD Vance are doing what they do best: whipping up a racist campaign of hate against immigrants.

Of course, Trump has always done this, from the moment in 2015 when he descended Trump Tower’s gaudy gold escalator and declared that Mexico was sending rapists and people who bring drugs and crime. But it took teaming up with Vance, a proponent of the great replacement theory that Democrats are overseeing an influx of migrants to create more Democratic voters, to really kick things into high gear.

Now, both Trump and Vance are making clear that they will not limit their mass deportation scheme to undocumented immigrants.

“They have to go back to where they came from, I’m sorry,” Trump said of Haitian immigrants who are living legally in Springfield, Ohio, during his rally in Aurora on Friday. (Watch below.)

Vance has repeatedly used the same talking point during recent campaign events, and Trump said in an interview early this month that he “absolutely” would revoke the Haitians’ Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and deport them. On the same day as his rally in Aurora, Trump vowed that he plans to send “elite squads” of federal law enforcement officers to “hunt down, arrest, and deport” migrants all throughout the country.

It was likely inevitable that Trump and Vance would land here once they made attacking Ohio’s Haitian community a signature part of their campaign. But it’s important to explain why those immigrants are here legally because of their eligibility for TPS and humanitarian parole.

Martin Sutovec / Slovakia

And you just knew this was coming. This is from the AP. “Trump calls for adding 10,000 Border Patrol agents after derailing a bipartisan border bill.”

 Former President Donald Trump on Sunday proposed hiring 10,000 additional Border Patrol agents and giving them a $10,000 retention and signing bonus, after he derailed a bipartisan bill earlier this year that included funding for more border personnel.

Trump made his pledge during a rally in Prescott Valley, Arizona, roughly 260 miles north of the state’s border with Mexico. He accepted an endorsement from the agents’ union, the National Border Patrol Council, which is a longtime Trump backer that endorsed him during his prior two campaigns.

Trump has made illegal immigration the focus of his campaign and blamed Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, for a record spike in unauthorized crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border. He frequently denounces people entering the U.S. illegally as invaders and criminals, and he has vowed to stage the largest deportation operation in American history if he is elected president again.

His rallies are getting horrifyingly worse.  He’s back to telling his crowds to beat up hecklers.  This time, a woman. “Trump suggests woman heckler at rally should ‘get the hell knocked out of her’. Former President Trump on Saturday suggested a woman heckling him should be physically harmed.”  This headline comes from MSNBC.  You can watch him threatening violence at the link.

All this comes behind General Milley’s interview with Bob Woodward, where he describes Trump as “fascist to the core.” Have you noticed this is something that should have been in the news before the book’s publishing?  What kind of  “journalist” does that?  This is from the Washington Post. “Trump is ‘fascist to the core,’ Milley says in Woodward’s book. The former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says Trump is “the most dangerous person to this country,” echoing dire warnings of others in national security circles.”  It’s reported by Ruby Cramer.

Milley, 66, served for more than a year as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Trump before continuing in the role under President Joe Biden.

Upon stepping down in September 2023 after more than 40 years in the military, Milley laid out his apparent concerns about Trump in a pointed retirement speech. “We don’t take an oath to a king, or a queen, to a tyrant or dictator or wannabe dictator,” he said.

Woodward’s new book, “War,” due out Tuesday, follows Milley in the years after the Trump administration as he wrestles with escalating fears over the president he once served.

Milley was a source for Woodward’s 2021 book, “Peril,” sharing his worries about Trump’s mental stability and national security decisions, according to excerpts of his new book. Upon seeing Woodward again at a reception in March 2023, he told the author that his concerns had grown more dire.

“I glimpsed it when I talked to you back — for ‘Peril,’ but I now know it. I now know it,” he said.

“No one has ever been as dangerous to this country as Donald Trump,” the general told Woodward. “Now I realize he’s a total fascist. He is the most dangerous person to this country.”

By the following year, Milley was receiving a “nonstop barrage of death threats” that he attributed to Trump’s political rhetoric and his fixation on retribution for his perceived enemies, Woodward writes.

After retiring, Milley installed bulletproof glass and blast-proof curtains

He’s also worried about being court-marshalled if Trump gets reinstalled at the White House.  Raw Story has a number of headlines you may want to check out.

 David McAfee / Raw Story:
‘Absolute chaos’ as ‘MAGA faithful were stranded’ in desert after California event: report

Brad Reed / Raw Story:
‘Vile stuff’: NYT shamed by its own former public editor for whitewashing Trump racism

But there is so much more today that it’s overwhelming.  The Washington Post reports this horrifying bit on the Trump Cult. “Hurricane recovery officials in N.C. relocated amid report of ‘armed militia,’ email shows. Safety fears are growing as misinformation collides with a large-scale federal recovery effort.”

Federal emergency response personnel directed employees operating Saturday in hard-hit Rutherford County, N.C., to stop working and move to a different area because of concerns over “armed militia” threatening government workers in the region, according to an email sent to federal agencies helping with hurricane response in the state.

Around 1 p.m. Saturday, an official with the U.S. Forest Service, which is supporting recovery efforts after Hurricane Helene along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, sent an urgent message to numerous federal agencies warning that “FEMA has advised all federal responders Rutherford County, NC, to stand down and evacuate the county immediately. The message stated that National Guard troops ‘had come across x2 trucks of armed militia saying they were out hunting FEMA.’”

“The IMTs [incident management teams] have been notified and are coordinating the evacuation of all assigned personnel in that county,” the email added.

Two federal officials confirmed the authenticity of the email, though it was unclear whether the quoted threat was seen as credible. The National Guard referred questions to FEMA when asked about the incident. One Forest Service official coordinating the Helene recovery said responders moved to a “safe area” and that at least some work in the area — which included clearing trees off dozens of damaged and blocked roads to help search-and-rescue crews, as well as groups delivering supplies — was paused.

 A local FOX news outlet reports a man has been arrested. “Man accused of threatening FEMA workers with assault rifle in western North Carolina.  I’m just a financial economist, but that’s a credible threat.

 A man is being charged after being accused of threatening FEMA workers in western North Carolina, according to the Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office.

At around 12:54 p.m. on Saturday, deputies got a report of a man with an assault rifle who made a comment about possibly harming FEMA workers providing Hurricane Helene disaster relief in the area of Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.

Rutherford County deputies alerted Lake Lure officers and other local agencies of the threat once they were made aware of it.

Yet another armed Trumper idiot was arrested at the rally in Coachella, California.  These supposed “assassination” attempts are getting old. “Would-be assassin or Trump-supporting ‘sovereign citizen’? What we know about suspect Vem Miller.  Local law enforcement described Miller as a ‘lunatic’ sovereign citizen plotting to kill Donald Trump – but he has reportedly denied meaning the former president any harm.” This is from The Independent.  Have we yet established that all these domestic terrorist loons are white guys?

Police arrested a man they said was armed with multiple weapons and inconsistent identification documents just outside a Donald Trump rally on Saturday in Coachella Valley, California, in what officials are describing as a thwarted third assassination attempt against the former president.

However, the suspect – described as a “sovereign citizen” – is believed to be a Trump fan and told a news outlet he didn’t mean the Republican candidate any harm.

Here’s everything we know about suspect Vem Miller, 49, who has denied wrongdoing.

How was he arrested?

Deputies stopped suspect Vem Miller in a black SUV around 5pm on Saturday about half a mile from the rally, after he allegedly managed to make it through an initial security checkpoint by claiming VIP and media credentials.

Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said at a press conference on Sunday that at a second stop, a deputy noticed that Miller’s SUV was in “disarray” with an “obviously fake” license plate, prompting deputies to investigate further.

Police then found that Miller allegedly had multiple driver’s licenses and passports with different names and possessed a loaded handgun and shotgun, both unregistered, as well as a high-capacity ammunition magazine. Sheriff Bianco said the markings on the license plate indicated Miller was part of “a group of individuals that claim to be ‘sovereign citizens,’” a right-wing movement that doesn’t believe in the legitimacy of the government.

The Independent has contacted Miller for comment.

What charges is he facing?

“Miller was taken into custody without incident and later booked at the John J. Benoit Detention Center for possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a high-capacity magazine,” the sheriff’s office said in the release.

Miller has denied he was near the rally to attack Trump.

The 49-year-old told Southern California News Group he was “shocked” to hear the arrest being described as an assassination plot, telling the outlet he’s a supporter of the former president.

“These accusations are complete bull****,” Miller said. “I’m an artist, I’m the last person that would cause any violence and harm to anybody.”

Josephine Harvey, who reports for HuffPo, writes, “Trump Insists He’s Not ‘Cognitively Impaired’ In Jumbled Rally Tangent. The former president also slid in a wildly exaggerated claim about the size of the crowd he drew a day earlier.”

Former President Donald Trump insisted he’s not “cognitively impaired” during a wandering, stream-of-consciousness spiel at a rally in Arizona on Sunday that, if anything, raised further questions about his mental acuity.

The Republican nominee started out his rambling thought by criticizing the “fake news” media at the Prescott Valley event, observing: “That’s a lot of cameras.”

“Who the hell can do this two, three times a day?” he continued, pivoting abruptly to talk, apparently, about the number of public appearances he makes. “One little mistake, if I pronounce a word slightly wrong, and I tend not to go back, because I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to say, ‘Uh, excuse me, let me go.’”

“So I speak for hours, mostly without a teleprompter, really, mostly. One mispronunciation of a word — ‘He’s cognitively impaired. He’s getting old, he’s getting old. He mispronounced a word like the name of the gang.’ If I did. You know, I think I got it perfectly, didn’t I?” he went on.

“But if they see any, they watch for weeks and weeks, for weeks and weeks. I’m up here, ranting and raving. Last night, 100,000 people. Flawless. Ranting and raving. I’m ranting and raving. Not a mistake.”

Trump held a campaign rally in Coachella, California, on Saturday, that almost certainly did not have 100,000 attendees. While the exact figure is unclear, a permit issued for the event reportedly capped attendance at 15,000.

There goes that 78 Billionaire again with his constant whining.

And Republicans are still trying to disrupt voting. This is also from the Washington Post. “Michigan GOP candidate’s ad aimed at Black voters has wrong election date. The Michigan Legislative Black Caucus accused Republican Tom Barrett’s campaign of misleading Black voters with an ad carrying the wrong election date.”

Tom Barrett, a Republican vying for a Michigan congressional seat, is facing calls for an investigation after an ad from his campaign incorrectly listed Election Day as Nov. 6 in a Black-owned Michigan newspaper.

In a complaint filed Sunday with the state attorney general, the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus accused Barrett’s campaign of misleading Black voters to suppress turnout — something the group of Black state lawmakers said could violate a Michigan law that prohibits intentionally spreading misinformation about the election process to deter an individual from voting.

“At best, Tom Barrett and his Campaign have committed a shocking oversight which will undoubtedly lead to confusion by Black voters in Lansing,” states the complaint, which calls on the attorney general as well as a local county prosecutor to launch a probe. “And, at worst, this ad could be part of an intentional strategy to ‘deter’ Black voters by deceiving them into showing up to vote on the day after the 2024 election.”

All of this would probably make even Richard Nixon Blush.  Where’s Karma when you need it?  Get out that Vote, Friends!

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

My name was Richard Nixon only now I’m a girl
you wouldn’t know it but I used to be the king of the world
compared to last time I look like I’ve hit the skids
living in the project with my two little kids
it’s not what I would of chose
now you have to call me Rose
I was boss of bosses the last time around
I lived by cunning and ambition unbound
the suckers said they’d stand behind me right or wrong
as if they thought that hubris was the mark of the strong
I was an arrogant man
but now I’ve got it in hand
it’s not what I would have chose
now you have to call me Rose
call me Rose
call me Rose it’s not what I would have chose
now you have to call me Rose
My name was Richard Nixon only now I’m a girl
you wouldn’t know it but I used to be the king of the world
I’m back here learning what it is to be poor
to have no power but the strength to endure
I’ll perform my penance well
maybe the memoir will sell
it’s not what I would of chose
now you have to call me Rose

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Bruce Cockburn
Call Me Rose lyrics © Rotten Kiddies Music Llc, Bro N Sis Music Inc., Bro N Sis Music, Inc.

Mostly Monday Reads: Is it a Coup when the Supreme Court does It?

Posted: July 1, 2024 | Author: | Filed under: U.S. Politics | Tags: , , , | 12 Comments

“The compromised Supreme Court has created a monster.” John Buss, @repeat1968

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

It certainly isn’t morning in America by any usual standards.  The Roberts Court continues its attack on precedent.  The first line of Justice Sotomayer’s dissent is chilling.  Today, I am crying in my office with her.

“With fear for our democracy, I dissent.” – Justice Sotomayor.

This is her warning.

“When [the president] uses his official powers in any way, under the majority’s reasoning, he now will be insulated from criminal prosecution. Orders the Navy’s Seal Team 6 to assassinate a political rival? Immune. Organizes a military coup to hold onto power? Immune. Takes a bribe in exchange for a pardon? Immune. Immune, immune, immune.”

MSNBC’s Katie Phang notices this omission from her dissent

Notably, Judge Sotomayor does not use the adverb “respectfully” before she closes her dissent. She’s appropriately disgusted with the majority opinion.

Naturally, even the name of the court case suggests we’re under attack by Donald the Destroyer.  “Trump v. United States (23-939)” holds thusly.

“The nature of Presidential power entitles a former President to absolute immunity from criminal prosecution for actions within his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority; he is also entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts; there is no immunity for unofficial acts.”

Joyce Vance describes the bottom line in a post to X.

“Bottom line: This case is not going to trial any time soon. There is the possibility of additional appeals as Judge Chutkan makes some of the decisions about official versus private conduct, etc. It’s a mess.”

Lisa Needham sums up the court’s disastrous year with this headline in Public Notice.  “SCOTUS completes the biggest power grab in modern US history. What balance of power?”  The dangers of overturning the Chevron case and the new findings on presidential immunity are devasting to our form of government.

As we finally reach the end of another harrowing US Supreme Court term, one overarching theme has emerged: this Court doesn’t believe in the separation of powers.

Three decisions from last week highlight the remarkable success of the right-wing justices in accruing control, drastically shifting power away from the executive and legislative branches.

Think of the separation of powers as having two layers. One is the power of each branch: the legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judicial branch interprets the law. The other layer is the checks and balances part. Congress passes laws, but that power is checked by the president’s ability to veto them and the judiciary’s ability to invalidate unconstitutional ones. The president’s ability to appoint a cabinet requires the approval of Congress, and the executive branch’s authority to enact regulations and executive actions can be invalidated by the courts.

And then there’s the courts. Where the courts can interpret and invalidate both laws and regulations, there is no similar power to undo a court ruling absent significant friction. In theory, the check from the executive is that the president has the power to nominate judges, and the check from Congress is that it can approve or reject those appointees. You’ll note that neither of those checks allows the legislative or executive branch to easily unwind a specific court decision, but instead only to commit to a long-range course of action of nomination and approval to slowly change the composition of the judiciary.

Another check is that Congress could pass laws that alter the power and composition of the federal courts, such as expanding the courts by creating new courts and increasing the number of judges. Again, however, that’s a long-range plan that requires massive effort and the agreement of the executive branch.

Meanwhile, six unelected right-wing justices, all of whom have a lifetime position, have pulled off what is likely the biggest power grab in American history, knowing full well there’s no way that the other two branches can get it together enough to stop them.

The Leonard Leo Six will certainly get their gratuities this summer.  They’ve essentially crippled Federal Agencies. I say this as I sit through my 3rd consecutive year of record-setting temperatures while watching two record-setting hurricanes take aim at the Gulf.   NPR’s Nina Totenberg has just posted this analysis on the Absolute immunity debacle.  “Supreme Court says Trump has absolute immunity for core acts only.”  Was Trump ever doing official acts?  That’s my first question.

The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 6-3 decision along ideological lines, ruled that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers — and is entitled to a presumption of immunity for his official acts, but lacks immunity for unofficial acts. But at the same time, the court sent the case back to the trial judge to determine which, if any of Trump’s actions, were part of his official duties and thus were protected from prosecution.

That part of the court’s decision likely ensures that the case against Trump won’t be tried before the election, and then only if he is not reelected. If he is reelected, Trump could order the Justice Department to drop the charges against him, or he might try to pardon himself in the two pending federal cases.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the court’s decision, joined by his fellow conservatives. Dissenting were the three liberals, Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Monday’s decision to send the case back to trial Judge Tanya Chutkan all but guarantees that there will be no Trump trial on the election interference charges for months. Even before the immunity case, Judge Chutkan indicated that trial preparations would likely take three months. Now, she will also have to decide which of the charges in the Trump indictment should remain and which involve official acts that under the Supreme Court ruling are protected from prosecution.

Even after Judge Chutkan separates the constitutional wheat from the chaff, Trump could seek further delays, as immunity questions are among the very few that may be appealed prior to trial.

Monday’s Supreme Court decision came months after the court agreed to hear the case Feb. 28 and scheduled arguments for two months later. Court critics have noted that the justices could have considered the case as early as in December, when Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith unsuccessfully sought review of the same questions later put forward by Trump.

Tony Romm of the Washington Post writes that the Corporate Overlords are already busy forming laws suits with the Chevron decision. “Corporate lobbyists eye new lawsuits after Supreme Court limits federal power. Powerful opponents of federal regulation — in climate, finance, health, labor and technology — are already planning how to use the ruling for their advantage.”  This will be terrifically destabilizing to the economy.  Corruption at high levels is what defines a dysfunctional economy.

Mere hours after the Supreme Court sharply curbed the power of federal agencies, conservatives and corporate lobbyists began plotting how to harness the favorable ruling in a redoubled quest to whittle down climate, finance, health, labor and technology regulations in Washington.

The early strategizing underscored the magnitude of the justices’ landmark decision, which rattled the nation’s capital and now appears poised to touch off years of lawsuits that could redefine the U.S. government’s role in modern American life.

The legal bombshell arrived Friday, when the six conservatives on the Supreme Court invalidated a decades-old legal precedent that federal judges should defer to regulatory agencies in cases where the law is ambiguous or Congress fails to specify its intentions. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. described the framework as “unworkable,” at one point arguing in his opinion that it “prevents judges from judging.”

Many conservatives and businesses long had chafed over the legal doctrine, known as Chevron deference after a case involving the oil giant in the 1980s. They had encouraged the Supreme Court over the past year to dismantle the precedent in a flood of legal filings, then rejoiced when the nation’s highest judicial panel sided with them this week — paving the way for industry to commence a renewed assault against the power and reach of the executive branch.

“This means that agencies are going to have a hard time defending their legal positions,” said Daryl Joseffer, the executive vice president and chief counsel at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center, which filed an amicus brief in the case. “That means it will be easier to challenge some regulations than it used to be. That obviously has a real impact on whether it’s worth bringing some cases.”

We are truly fucked.  Independence Day has been overturned.  We should spend the 4th of July wondering what we did to give away the promise of our country’s founding and its continual forward march to giving all of us liberty and Justice.  Corporations now have more power. SCOTUS has more power.  Donald will be hypercharged with power if he is re-elected.  This power grab needs to stop.  There is no way that Alito and Thomas should decide anything concerning January 6th, given that their wives are deeply caught up in the treason.  I look forward to the response from both the President and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

 

Wednesday Warning Reads: Jive Turkeys

Posted: November 22, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: just because, Republican politics, Republican presidential politics, Treason and Sedition Republican Style | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

You may have noticed that JJ and I have been doing the posts recently.  BB took ill with Covid-19. We were hopeful that a few doses of Paxlovid would have her back in no time.  However, she has been in the hospital now since Monday. She developed mild pneumonia and will probably have more days in hospital before they release her.  We all wish her the very best on her road back to health.

My mother used to love watching the A-Team back in the day. I didn’t watch it much, but I did love Mister T, and “I pity the fool” who didn’t love him calling out a “Jive Turkey.”  One of Maya Angelou’s words of wisdom was, “When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.”  Today, I have a long list of Jive Turkeys showing us exactly who they are.

A jive turkey is someone who is unreliable, makes exaggerations or empty promises, or who is otherwise dishonest. The phrase is so associated with 1970s culture.

Okay, so Jive Turkey number one is Judge Aileen Cannon. This is from Politico‘s Josh Gerstein. “How one judge is slowing down one of Trump’s biggest criminal cases. The May 2024 trial in Trump’s classified documents case appears headed for a politically precarious postponement.” 

Judge Aileen Cannon seems to be in no hurry.

On paper, she has scheduled a trial to open next May in the case charging Donald Trump with hoarding national security secrets at Mar-a-Lago.

In reality, she has run the pretrial process at a leisurely pace that will make a postponement almost inevitable, according to experts on criminal prosecutions related to classified information.

Delaying Trump’s trial until after the November election would have a momentous implication: It might mean the trial never happens at all. If Trump wins the election and the case is still pending, he’s expected to order the Justice Department to shut it down.

Even a shorter delay would be fraught: Pushing the trial into the summer or fall could run headlong into the Republican National Convention or the heart of the general election campaign.

For now, Cannon, a Trump-appointed federal district judge in Florida, is officially sticking with the May 20 trial date she announced four months ago. She even recently denied Trump’s bid to push it back. But in a series of more technical rulings, Cannon has postponed key pretrial deadlines, and she has added further slack into the schedule simply by taking her time to resolve some fairly straightforward matters.

“It could be seen as a stealth attempt to delay the ultimate trial date without actually announcing that yet,” said Brian Greer, a former Central Intelligence Agency attorney.

“There’s pretty much no chance they could go to trial on May 20 with the current schedule,” he added.

David Aaron, a former DOJ national security prosecutor, agreed, saying a May 20 trial is unlikely “unless a lot of discipline is imposed.”

You may read the exact steps she’s taken to delay justice for the American people at the link above.  Multiple Jive Turkeys are dissing our wonderful Vice President Kamala Harris. Dean Phillips, an obscure congressman from Minnesota, is challenging President Biden in the Democratic Presidential primary. This is from Tommy Christopher at Mediaite.  “Biden Rival Comically Backtracks When Confronted On CNN For Attacking VP Kamala Harris: ‘I Don’t Recall Saying Those Words’.”

Congressman and longshot Biden presidential rival Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) did a comical bit of backpedaling when CNN anchor Abby Phillip confronted him for attacking Vice President Kamala Harris in another interview.

Rep. Phillips — who is polling at or below the margin of error in most polls since launching a primary challenge against Biden — lobbed a series of attacks at the VP in an Atlantic interview, couched as repetitions of criticisms from unnamed others:

“Is Kamala Harris prepared to step in if something happened to Biden?” I asked Phillips.

“I think that Americans have made the decision that she’s not,” he said.

I replied that I was interested in the decision of one specific American, Dean Phillips.

“That is not my opinion,” Phillips clarified. He said that every interaction he’s had with the vice president has been “thoughtful” and that “I’ve enjoyed them.”

“That said …” Phillips paused, and I braced for the vibe shift.

“I hear from others who know her a lot better than I do that many think she’s not well positioned,” he said of Harris. “She is not well prepared, doesn’t have the right disposition and the right competencies to execute that office.”

Phillips also noted that Harris’s approval numbers are even worse than Biden’s: “It’s pretty clear that she’s not somebody people have faith in.”

But again, Phillips is not one of those people: “From my personal experiences, I’ve not seen those deficiencies.”

The exchange even nonplussed the interviewer, Mark Leibovich, who compared it to “Trumplike ‘many people are saying’ attributions.”

Stay classy Congressman. You may want to read up on misogynoir.

The Kingpin Jive Turkey is, of course, Donald Trump.  This is also from Mediaite. “MSNBC’s Claire McCaskill Claims Trump ‘Even More Dangerous’ Than Hitler and Mussolini.”  It’s reported by Ken Meyer.

‘The Turkey is a noble bird.” Benjamin Franklin’s character in the musical 1776,  John Buss @repeat1968

MSNBC political analyst Claire McCaskill posited that Donald Trump is “even more dangerous” than Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler because the only thing he cares about is himself, and he lacks any other kind of political center.

The former senator joined Alicia Menendez on Tuesday for Dateline, where the panel was discussing the New York Times’ analysis of Trump’s most recent rhetoric against his political enemies. With Trump’s increasing levels of vitriol, aggression and thirst for vengeance, the Times pointed to the valid comparisons between the former president and various fascist leaders and dictators.

As McCaskill was invited to discuss Trump stoking violence and political extremism in America, she noted that “A lot of people have tried to draw similarities between Mussolini and Hitler and the use of the terminology like ‘vermin’ and the drive that those men had towards autocracy and dictatorship.”

The difference, though, I think makes Donald Trump even more dangerous, and that is he has no philosophy he believes in. He is not trying to expand the boundaries of the United States of America. He is not trying to overcome a neighboring country like Putin is in Ukraine. He is not going for a grandiose scheme of international dominance. All he wants is to look in the mirror and see a guy who is president. All he cares about is selfish self-promotion. That’s the only philosophy he has.

McCaskill argued this makes Trump “even more dangerous because he’s actually said out loud that it would be okay to terminate the Constitution to keep him in power.”

“He actually said those words,” she said. “And the irony is all of these supposed conservative folks that have populated the Republican party all stood around with their thumb in their mouth going ‘well, yeah okay.’ It’s bizarre.”

Les Dindons, 1877, Claude Monet

Peter Stone of The Guardian wrote this analysis.  “‘Openly authoritarian campaign’: Trump’s threats of revenge fuel alarm. ‘Openly authoritarian campaign’: Trump’s threats of revenge fuel alarm. .”Trump’s talk of seeking to ‘weaponize’ the DoJ and ‘retribution’ for opponents poses a direct threat to the rule of law and democracy in the US should he win a second term, experts say.”

Donald Trump’s talk of punishing his critics and seeking to “weaponize” the US justice department against his political opponents has experts and former DoJ officials warning he poses a direct threat to the rule of law and democracy in the US.

Trump’s talk of seeking “retribution” against foes, including some he’s branded “vermin”, has coincided with plans that Maga loyalists at rightwing thinktanks are assembling to expand the president’s power and curb the DoJ, the FBI and other federal agencies. All of it has fueled critics’ fears that in a second term Trump would govern as an unprecedentedly authoritarian American leader.

Trump is currently the overwhelming favorite to win the Republican nomination for 2024 and has long maintained hefty polling leads over his party rivals. At the same time a slew of recent polls has also shown him ahead of president Joe Biden, including in key battleground states.

But scholars and ex-justice officials see increasing evidence that if they achieved power again Trump and his Maga allies plan to tighten his control at key agencies and install trusted loyalists in top posts at the DoJ and the FBI, permitting Trump more leeway to exact revenge on foes, and shrinking agencies Trump sees as harboring “deep state” critics.

Ominously, Trump has threatened to tap a special prosecutor to “go after” Biden and his family.

Trump’s angry mindset was revealed on Veterans Day when he denigrated foes as “vermin” who needed to be “rooted out”, echoing Fascist rhetoric from Italy and Germany in the 1930s.

“I’m hard pressed to find any candidates anywhere who are so open that they would use the power of the state to go after critics and enemies,” said Steven Levitsky, a Harvard government professor and co-author of How Democracies Die.

“This is one of the most openly authoritarian campaigns I’ve ever seen. You have to go back to the far-right authoritarians in the 1930s in Europe or in 1970s Latin America to find the kind of dehumanizing and violent language that Trump is starting to consistently use.”

Republican Freedom Caucus Jive Turkeys are trying to pin January 6th on a false flag operation led by the FBI.  This was denied by FBI Director Christopher Wray in a Congressional hearing and is an absolutely insane conspiracy theory. This is from Amanda Marcotte writing for Salon. ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Lee get Jan. 6 footage — but trying to blame the FBI could backfire.  Whatever, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Mike Lee — no one actually thinks the FBI was behind January 6.”

No surprise from a guy who took the lead defending Donald Trump’s attempted coup, but the newly appointed Speaker of the House, Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., moved quickly to abuse his power in an effort to spread lies and disinformation. He’s pretending to do so under the guise of “transparency,” by releasing over 40,000 hours of security footage from the January 6 insurrection online this week. Of course, Johnson does not actually expect people to watch the footage, especially as pretty much every American already knows what happened that day: attempted murder, vandalism, bashing cops, and limitless jackassery from people dumb enough to listen to Donald Trump. But of course, the MAGA movement — now indistinguishable from the Republican Party — wants to rewrite history in gaslight, claiming that our lying eyes deceived us and that the Capitol riot was merely a tickle.

The purpose of this release is not subtle. Propagandists can soon cherry-pick a few moments where rioters were not beating up cops, and pretend that somehow negates the rest of the time that they were beating up cops. As I noted in Tuesday’s newsletter, the tactic is familiar to anyone who has survived a trash boyfriend, the kind who whined, “Why don’t you talk about all the days I didn’t cheat on you?”

Relitigating a day that makes Republicans look like fascists and cowards doesn’t seem like the smartest electoral strategy. But the GOP now is primarily composed of professional trolls who cannot turn down an opportunity to spew noxious gases online. Sure enough, some of the most annoying people in Congress tweeted conspiracy theories about the footage in language so fevered you could practically hear them panting as they typed. Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, a man who is only spared from being the biggest dweeb in the Senate by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, retweeted an image of a Capitol rioter with captions falsely implying he was an undercover FBI agent. “I can’t wait to ask FBI Director Christopher Wray about this at our next oversight hearing,” Lee wrote, with a junior high student’s enthusiasm for being annoying to adults.

And, of course, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., repeated the same obviously silly story, because the woman never met a conspiracy theory she doesn’t like.

You can't take Jive Turkey.

No Jive Turkey Trot would be worth its salt if it didn’t include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.  This is from A.G Gancarski’s  Florida Politics. “In attempt to reboot New Hampshire campaign, Ron DeSantis rolls out food drive. Hungry Floridians won’t benefit, but the Governor’s 2024 campaign will.”

While Floridians who are dealing with food insecurity this week may be on their own, it’s heartening to know Gov. Ron DeSantis is organizing a food drive.

That’s the good news.

The bad news for them is that it’s in another state.

“We are doing a big canned food drive today in New Hampshire. We’re going to be donating to the New Hampshire Food Bank. So I would just say Americans as they enjoy their Thanksgiving, there’s a lot of people that are struggling with this economy so we want to step up and do our part,” DeSantis said on Tuesday’s “Fox and Friends.”

Though Florida has been rocked by inflation that rivals anywhere in the country, DeSantis is strategically limiting his cost-of-living concerns to states where he needs votes more imminently. He has bemoaned spiraling prices in Iowa also.

“I’m going around and talking to voters across the country. I’ll have a family in Iowa tell me, you know, now they go and check out at the grocery store and it rings up so high, so quick they’ve got to take things out of their shopping cart,” DeSantis said in September on the Fox News Channel’s “America Reports.”

For the DeSantises, economic concerns are a family affair: First Lady Casey DeSantis has also talked about troubles in the economy, blaming “Bidenomics” for her need to buy her children’s “$2 t-shirts” at Walmart.

The Governor is spending Tuesday in the Granite State, where he will be the main attraction during a noon town hall event in Manchester, at the Executive Court Banquet Center, with Gov. Chris Sununu on hand. From there, his next stop will be a second town hall in Keene, a 6 p.m. start at Tempesta Restaurant.

Gov. DeSantis only has room to improve in New Hampshire generally, but his problems are especially acute in the Manchester metropolitan area, where he had just 2% support in a a recent survey from the University of New Hampshire.

He’s below 10% in recent polls of the state, including a drop to fifth place in the new Washington Post-Monmouth survey of New Hampshire GOP Primary voters. With 7% support, the Florida Governor finds himself behind Vivek Ramaswamy (8%), Chris Christie (11%), Nikki Haley (18%), and Donald Trump (46%).

The plumpest Social Media Jive Turkey of them all is getting support for Republicans. This is a Washington Post Op-Ed by Greg Sargent   “Elon Musk’s silly lawsuit offers a glimpse into the Musk-MAGA alliance.”

Elon Musk’s new lawsuit against Media Matters, which X Corp. filed late Monday, has been dismissed by legal experts as a frivolous effort to bully a prominent critic into silence. But some Republicans apparently see this as a feature, not a bug: They are allying themselves with Musk’s effort for precisely this purpose.

Musk’s suit charges that Media Matters deliberately and deceptively harmed X (formerly Twitter) with a widely-publicized investigation showing that posts containing pro-Nazi content appeared on X alongside advertisements from leading companies. That, along with a surge in antisemitic content, has advertisers fleeing the site, sparking a slide in ad revenue.

Republicans are eagerly rushing to Musk’s rescue — and not just rhetorically. Two GOP state attorneys general — Ken Paxton in Texas and Andrew Bailey in Missouri — have responded by announcing vaguely defined investigations into Media Matters.

Meanwhile, Trump adviser Stephen Miller is urging Republican law enforcement officials to probe Media Matters for “criminal” activity. And Mike Davis, who is touting himself as Donald Trump’s next attorney general, has declared that Media Matters staff members should be jailed.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Texas, doesn’t deny that the juxtapositions between ads and pro-Nazi postings are real. Rather, it accuses Media Matters of creating an account following only fringe content and endlessly refreshing it until it finally generated the juxtapositions. Those are “extraordinarily rare,” the suit says, but were deliberately engineered to disparage X, harm its revenue stream and interfere with its contracts with advertisers.

It’s a weak case, as experts point out. The Media Matters article said it had “found” the juxtapositions, which X calls “false,” insisting they were “manipulated” into existence. But even if you question Media Matters’s presentation of the facts, it still wouldn’t show that it did “all of this to harm X’s market value,” said Stephen Vladeck, a law professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Well, next November we get to see how all of this shakes out.  If you’re not convinced the Republicans have gone Fascist by now, there’s not much hope for you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

Mostly Monday Reads: Money Makes the Pol go ’round

Posted: September 25, 2023 | Author: | Filed under: Corruption and Criminal Insanity | Tags: , , | 5 Comments

Good Day, Sky Dancers!

I must admit that the headlines aren’t getting any less depressing about what was once our healthy democracy. Will we default on our debt because a few stupid Republicans in backwater, gerrymandered districts followed Trumpmania to blow up the system and fellate Trump’s ego? Will Trump get back in and try to jail and shoot his political enemies? This is from Brian Klauss at The Atlantic.

Eventually, all luck runs out. Political violence is notoriously difficult to forecast with precision, but would anyone really be surprised if Trump’s violent rhetoric led to real-world attacks in the run-up to the 2024 election—or in its aftermath, if he loses?

For all of these reasons, Trump’s recent unhinged rant about Milley should be a wake-up call. But in today’s political climate, the incident barely registers. Trump scandals have become predictably banal. And American journalists have become golden retrievers watching a tennis-ball launcher. Every time they start to chase one ball, a fresh one immediately explodes into view, prompting a new chase.

Eventually, chasing tennis balls gets old. We become more alive to virtually any distraction: The media fixate on John Fetterman’s hoodie instead of on stories about the relentless but predictable risk of Trump-inspired political violence.

Bombarded by a constant stream of deranged authoritarian extremism from a man who might soon return to the presidency, we’ve lost all sense of scale and perspective. But neither the American press nor the public can afford to be lulled. The man who, as president, incited a violent attack on the U.S. Capitol in order to overturn an election is again openly fomenting political violence while explicitly endorsing authoritarian strategies should he return to power. That is the story of the 2024 election. Everything else is just window dressing.

Well, maybe not everything else. Three days ago, we learned from ProPublica that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas “secretly participated in Koch Network Donor Events.”

During the summit, the justice went to a private dinner for the network’s donors. Thomas has attended Koch donor events at least twice over the years, according to interviews with three former network employees and one major donor. The justice was brought in to speak, staffers said, in the hopes that such access would encourage donors to continue giving.

That puts Thomas in the extraordinary position of having served as a fundraising draw for a network that has brought cases before the Supreme Court, including one of the most closely watched of the upcoming term.

Thomas never reported the 2018 flight to Palm Springs on his annual financial disclosure form, an apparent violation of federal law requiring justices to report most gifts. A Koch network spokesperson said the network did not pay for the private jet. Since Thomas didn’t disclose it, it’s not clear who did pay.

BB texted this article to me this morning about the leading Republican pol in the governor’s race. I seriously don’t want to live in a state run by this guy. This is from Politico. “GOP donor wants his money back after candidate hires Corey Lewandowski. An alleged unwanted advance causes ripples in Louisiana’s gubernatorial primary two years later.”

John Odom, a major Republican donor, has been a top backer of Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry. He’s dined with Landry, talked with him on the phone and attended one of his annual “Alligator Hunt” fundraisers. In all, he’s given $100,000 to his political operation.

But now Landry, the state’s attorney general and frontrunner in the race, has done something that, for Odom, is unforgivable.

He hired former Donald Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a political adviser.

And now, in response, Odom is demanding that Landry give him his money back and is “urg[ing] the voters of Louisiana to reject Landry at the polls.”

Odom, a construction company executive who made over $100,000 in federal donations to Republican-aligned candidates and groups in the 2022 midterm election, has deeply personal reasons for his dislike of Lewandowski. In 2021, Odom’s then-wife, Trashelle Odom, alleged that Lewandowski made unwanted sexual advances toward her at a Las Vegas charity dinner in September 2021.

Lewandowski was later charged with misdemeanor battery, and in September 2022 he cut a plea deal with Nevada prosecutors. Under the deal, the political strategist agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, undergo impulse control training, serve 50 hours of community service and stay out of trouble for a year. In exchange, Lewandowski would not have to admit guilt.

Along the way, Lewandowski remained active in Republican politics, advising several candidates during the 2022 midterms. Landry’s campaign has paid Lewandowski $100,000 ahead of the Oct. 14 primary, according to state finance records. The payments were first reported this past week by the Louisiana Illuminator.

Many folks are asking for their money back these days. This is from CBS News. “Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman calls on New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez to resign amid bribery charges.” He’s also handing back all donations the Senator made to his campaign.

Earlier this week, Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey along with his wife were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bribery.

The indictment comes after a yearslong investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice looking into public corruption.

The 69-year-old senator and his wife, Nadine Menendez, are facing one count of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, and conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right.

Also named in the indictment are three New Jersey businessmen, Wael Hana, Jose Uribe, and Fred Daibes.

Despite the charges, Sen. Menedez has indicated he does not plan to resign.

“I intend to continue to fight for the people of New Jersey with the same success I’ve had for the past five decades,” he said.

This is the second time in 10 years he has been facing corruption charges as in 2015 he was indicted on similar charges but the case ultimately ended in a mistrial.

Several elected officials in both New Jersey and Washington have called on Sen. Menendez to step down, and that includes one of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senators, John Fetterman.

Sen. Fetterman released a statement on Saturday afternoon, calling for Sen. Menendez’s resignation.

“Senator Menendez should resign,” Fetterman’s statement read. “He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations. I hope he chooses an honorable exit and focuses on his trial.”

Menendez has called the accusations baseless but due to the Senate Democratic Caucus rules, he has agreed to step down as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Of course, even Orangeholio is presumed innocent. So is the Senator. However, this is not Menedez’s first rodeo. But really, Trump is criminally insane by comparison. He shouldn’t be on the streets, let alone on the news. This is from Rachel Skully, writing at The Hill. “Trump pledges to investigate MSNBC parent company for ‘threatening treason.’ ”

Former President Trump pledged to investigate Comcast, the parent company for NBC and MSNBC, if he is elected in 2024, saying it “will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events.”

“They are almost all dishonest and corrupt, but Comcast, with its one-side and vicious coverage by NBC NEWS, and in particular MSNBC, often and correctly referred to as MSDNC (Democrat National Committee!), should be investigated for its ‘Country Threatening Treason,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post Sunday.

“I say up front, openly, and proudly, that when I WIN the Presidency of the United States, they and others of the LameStream Media will be thoroughly scrutinized for their knowingly dishonest and corrupt coverage of people, things, and events,” the former President wrote.

Trump also rehashed a phrase he has often used for news media in the past, calling it the “enemy of the people.”

“The Fake News Media should pay a big price for what they have done to our once great Country!” Trump added.

So much for the First Amendment.

Anyway, this is crazy, this is crazy, this is crazy.

Here’s a little something weird and unusual to think about. Warren Zevon, citing a poem, improvising beat poetry jazz, was one of many artists on an album called Kerouac. It’s also politically timely. It’s the Running Through – Chinese Poetry Song. More respect for the cats! More Wine! More Poetry!

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

 

 

Mostly Monday Reads: The Numbers Game

Posted: November 14, 2022 | Author: | Filed under: just because | Tags: , , , | 12 Comments

Transverse Line, Wassily Kandinsky, 1923

Good Day Sky Dancers!

Ballots are still being counted in the 2022 Midterms. The Senate has only one race that will go to a runoff. That is the Georgia race between Herschel Walker and incumbent Senator Ralph Warnock.  The dynamics of this race may change since the majority status has been decided.  Folks may decide to stay home rather than support Walker, who is definitely an odd choice for what used to be the severe and staid part of Congress. There is a general feeling that the Republicans will take the House, albeit by a very slim margin.

Fordham Professor Jed Shugerman, writing on mastodon, believes that 3 Roberts court’s decisions had much to do with the House outcome.

Some reasons why GOP will win the House:
1. Roberts Court decision Rucho allowing partisan gerrymandering.
2. Roberts Court decision Shelby County striking down preclearance in the Voting Rights Act.
3. Roberts Court shadow docket blocking Black districts in AL & LA (@mcpli)

The Ten Largest, No. 7, Adulthood, 1907, Stiftelsen Hilma af Klints Verk

The Louisiana case definitely helped since the non-gerrymandered congressional districts would’ve added an additional black Congressman who would undoubtedly be a Democratic Party member.  This would have been a pick-up. Currently, 205 seats have been called for the Democratic Party and 212 for Republicans. The Guardian characterizes the status this way:  “US midterms 2022: Democrats’ hope of keeping House fades as counting continues – live.”   The New York Times lists those elections left to call here.

Many of the states with a large share of outstanding votes conduct elections primarily or entirely by mail. It may still be days until news organizations can project which party will control the House next session, but Republicans appear to be on track to reach a majority of seats if the latest trends continue.

In California, where several competitive House races are not yet called, about 65 percent of the expected vote has been tallied statewide. Ballots there have until Tuesday to arrive. In 2020 it took the state 11 days to report 95 percent of its votes.

In Arizona, a substantial number of voters did not return their ballots until Election Day. Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, is not expected to finish counting until early this week.

In Oregon and Washington State, all or most ballots are expected by Tuesday.

Results continue to be reported.

Meanwhile, Trump continues to hold rallies before his supposed Tuesday announcement of his next Presidential bid.  He continues to attack the Jewish community in the United States for not adequately supporting Israel.  This is from Haaretz.  “At ZOA Event, Trump Again Attacks U.S. Jews for Supporting Democrats.  The former U.S. President says too many Jewish people ‘are not doing the right thing for Israel’ by voting for the party that just won the Senate in last week’s midterm election.”  Trump seems to misunderstand the diversity of Jewish Congregations in the United and that the Zionism faction is not a universally held Jewish belief.

Former President Donald Trump blasted American Jews for failing to vote for Republicans in sufficient numbers after he accepted the Theodor Herzl Medallion from the Zionist Organization of America, at the right-wing group’s annual gala on Sunday.

“You do have people in this country that happen to be Jewish that are not doing the right thing for Israel – too many,” Trump said, echoing a post he made on social media last month that drew heavy criticism from the American-Jewish community. ”The Democrats get 75 percent of the [Jewish] vote, which is hard to believe. We can’t let that continue,” he said.

Barack Hussein Obama … and then it’s 75 percent of the vote.” He then turned to ZOA President Morton Klein in mock confusion, exclaiming, “What the hell is going on here, Mort?”

Speaking at the sold-out event at New York City’s Pier 60, Trump proceeded to attack the “people in Congress who hate Israel,” contrasting the situation with the past when “you couldn’t touch Israel and couldn’t say a bad thing about it.”

Paul Klee, The Twittering Machine, 1922

Maybe he should learn a little more about the various traditions in the United States, like those practiced in the Reform Judaism congregations.

The Supreme Court continues to reject attempts at gun safety laws. This is from the AP: “Supreme Court rejects another bump stock ban case.”  We will live with the nutcases Trump appointed for a very long time.

The Supreme Court on Monday again declined to hear a lawsuit involving a Trump-era ban on bump stocks, the gun attachments that allow semi-automatic weapons to fire rapidly like machine guns.

The justices’ decision not to hear the case leaves in place a lower court decision that rejected bump stock owners’ efforts to be compensated for bump stocks they lawfully purchased, but were required to to give up after the administration ruled they were illegal. Lower courts had said the case should be dismissed.

As is typical, the justices made no comments in declining to hear the case, and it was among many the court rejected Monday.

Last month, the justices rejected two other challenges involving the ban. Gun rights advocates, however, scored a big win at the court earlier this year, when the justices by a 6-3 vote expanded gun-possession rights, weakening states’ ability to limit the carrying of guns in public.

In the tradition of Uncle Clarence Thomas, more of the Right Wing Justices are taking part in clear Political Events, further eroding any confidence that they may be the least bit impartial.  This is from Reuters: “Standing ovations for conservative U.S. justices at Federalist Society event.” I am appalled by their various comments at this event.

U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Amy Coney Barrett received standing ovations from members of the conservative Federalist Society on Thursday at its first annual convention since the court overturned a nationwide right to abortion.

Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch also received applause at the event of the legal group, which is one of the most influential in the country and whose members have long criticized the 1973 Roe v Wade decision that the court overturned in June.

Alito, Barrett, Kavanaugh and Gorsuch have helped create a new conservative supermajority on the court.

The loudest applause at the event in Washington, D.C. may have been not for the justices but for Alito’s opinion in the June ruling. Other conservative members of the court backed the ruling.

Alito did not mention the ruling or other aspects of the court’s work during his brief remarks. But Stephen Markman, a former justice on the Michigan Supreme Court, said that if the ruling were forever associated with Alito, “I do not know of any decision on any court by any judge of which that judge could be more proud.”

The comments were met by a standing ovation, with attendees turning to face toward Alito.

Barrett also briefly spoke at the event, largely honoring the late Judge Laurence Silberman, who served on D.C.’s federal appeals court and died last month. As she took the stage, Barrett said: “It’s really nice to have a lot of noise made not by protesters outside of my house.”

Paul Klee, “Death and Fire,” 1940

Gee, the Hand Maiden doesn’t want any of us peons in our democratic society disturbing her attempts to put Christian Nationalism in its place. She needs her beauty rest.

Trump continues to be blamed for all the losses and such bad candidates.  Let’s not forget that all Trump has really done is amplify what’s been cooking in the oven since the Reagan years, at the very least.   That might be a ham in the oven, but the pig wore lipstick before it got there.

From The Washington Post: “Trump blame continues for midterm losses as ex-president readies to announce bid. ‘I’m tired of losing,’ Trump critic Larry Hogan says, as Republican senators weigh in on leadership contest.”  The problem is that even though they attempt to gentrify their radical agenda, the base wants its anger and red meat.  I don’t think you will be able to put that back into the closet.

Donald Trump’s Republican critics renewed their push Sunday to steer their party away from the former president, warning that he could hurt Republicans’ chances of winning the Senate runoff in Georgia next month if he announces plans for another White House bid on Tuesday.

“It’s basically the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “And it’s like, three strikes, you’re out.” Hogan said it would be a mistake to nominate Trump again as the party’s 2024 presidential candidate after Republicans failed to take control of the Senate and made far fewer gains in the House than predicted in the midterm elections.

“The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result,” he added. “Donald Trump kept saying we’re gonna be winning so much we’re gonna get tired of winning. I’m tired of losing. That’s all he’s done.”

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) echoed Hogan’s comments on ABC’s “This Week,” calling Don Bolduc, the Republican Senate nominee in his state, a “Republican extremist” and saying the results across the country amounted to “a rejection of that extremism.”

Frantisek Kupka, Localization of Graphic Motifs II, 1912/1913

They can afford to say that now that the Supreme Court is doing its dirty work. I still remember them touting the style of the now Virginia Governor who tried to act moderate enough to get elected but then went full-on Christian White Nationalist.  I think they’re just trying to fool centrists and independent voters.  Genn Youngkin may have worn the clothing, but he still was a pig wearing lipstick. However, Trump has attacked him recently since he’s not quite pro-Trumpy enough. “Trump hits out at Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin with the bizarre comment that his name ‘sounds Chinese’. This report is from The Insider.

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin amid speculation that the governor might run for president in 2024.

Writing on Truth Social on Friday, Trump bizarrely commented that the governor’s name, which he spelled “Young Kin” “sounds Chinese.”

Trump also took credit for Youngkin’s political rise, claiming that he would not have become governor without his endorsement.

“I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning. But he knows that, and admits it,” Trump wrote.

Youngkin dismissed Trump’s comments while speaking to reporters on Friday and said he was focused on bringing people together.

“Listen, you all know me, I do not call people names,” the governor said. “I really work hard to bring people together and that’s what we’re working on.”

“That’s not the way I roll and not the way I behave,” he added.

Youngkin has previously declined to comment on whether he would run in 2024, stating in October that he was “focused right now on being the best governor in Virginia that I can possibly be.”

Gustav Klimt, Baby (Cradle), 1917/1918

No matter how much he talks like a polite gentleman, his policies are the same old Republican Culture wars and wealthy class, corporate appeasement with the same dose of White Christian Nationalism and Jingoism. “Youngkin proposes new history standards, including teaching patriotism in Va. schools.”

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Virginia Department of Education (VDOE) is overhauling former Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration’s proposal that would have set history and social science standards in Virginia schools.

Youngkin’s VDOE’s new draft proposal would determine what students learn about American history and Virginia history inside the classroom.

If adopted by the Virginia Board of Education, the new standards will be in effect for seven years starting in the 2024-2025 school year. Professional development would begin in the summer of 2023, according to a fact sheet that was sent to legislators and obtained by 7News.

The Governor’s 53-page proposal would require:

  • Kindergarteners to learn patriotism which includes pledging allegiance to the American flag
  • Students would learn critical thinking skills starting in the first grade
  • Starting in 4th grade, students would describe the Civil Rights movement in Virginia and students would describe why James Madison is called the “Father of the U.S. Constitution” and why George Washington is called the “Father of our Country” and students would learn about Reconstruction and the Civil War
  • In 11th grade, students would learn about Christopher Columbus and about the race-based enslavement of Africans and more

After Youngkin appointed new members to the Virginia Board of Education this year, the board delayed adopting the history curriculum proposal that was crafted under the Northam administration.

Northam’s proposed revisions to the history curriculum, which have now been scrapped, included:

  • Lessons on the LGTBQ+ community and social justice
  • Numerous lessons on racism and discrimination
  • Recognized holidays like Juneteenth
  • Lessons on gender equity and equality, climate defense, and renewable energy
  • It would have halted the requirement of teaching some lessons on Christopher Columbus and Benjamin Franklin
  • It would have scrapped the requirement of understanding why George Washington is called the “Father of our Country” and why James Madison is called the “Father of the Constitution.”

See. Pig meet Lipstick.

The one governor’s race that I’m watching is still going in a good direction. “Kari Lake’s path to victory continues to narrow despite gains.”  Lake would’ve joined the ranks of elected Republican women that continuously embarrass women and Americans everywhere.  

Anyway, that’s my offerings for today.

What’s on your reading and blogging list today?

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