Anti-abortion Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker did not, in fact, sue the Daily Beast over the story he paid for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion. Instead, his son Christian Walker took to social media to call his father out for lying, abuse, and abandonment and to call out MAGA Republicans for continuing to support his father while claiming to believe in “family values.”
KBJ seems to have reviewed the Reactionary Radical’s game plan and is using her questioning of “the lawyers” to poke needles in the eyes of the Federalist Judges
Originalism is to constitutional interpretation what Reaganomics is to economic theory: they both rely on passing off a perverse and selective rationality as sincere reason. Which, of course, is a con. Which, of course, is how we got a voting bloc duly conditioned to embrace an actual conman for the highest office in the land. What's interesting to me here is that Justice Jackson had the perfect case to introduce herself as ready to challenge the con of Originalism on the bench. Fortunately, it appears that we are finally at a historical point where the financial markets recognize what a bad idea strict supply side economics is. Thanks a bunch, Prime Minister Truss. Unfortunately, the courts don't respond to popular experience the way markets do--if, um not always swiftly--so the best that can probably be done is to keep getting judges who will challenge Originalism in their opinions. Which means keeping Republicans out of the White House and Senate. As with having to deal with Covid, it's going to be a long haul to minimize the effects of this period of jurisprudence.
Your every adjective spot on Karen; Justice Jackson opened a new era of Constitutional law. I can hardly wait for her first opinion whether for the majority, in cocurrence or in dissent. I am going to read them all.
She is in her glory. She may be surrounded by Handmaids Tale Commanders, but she is the higher intellect, the better speaker and she is a Justice motivated to bring real justice to America. Her first few questions are just a hint of what she will be doing on the Court.
Compare that with the fact that it was DECADES before Thomas would even ask one question. Maybe "Ginni" finally gave him the go ahead...
The press suggests she will have little power as a minority Justice. They underestimate her. As I learned from Justice Ginsburg, copious, well-reasoned opinions lay the ground work for future cases, even if the current case isn't won. I trust she will part their hair with her knowledge of history and law, her passion coupled with her life experience.
I just said to my husband this morning before reading your post that I can't imagine a worse job than being on the Supreme Court--I would not be able to get out of bed in the morning, cringing at the thought of having to be in the same room as those wackos....
The encouraging thing about Barrett and Kavanaugh is that they're "squishier" than Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch, who are so locked into their antebellum view of the ideal America that there might as well be bars on the door.
Once again a Black woman rises to the occasion to save a country that I'm often afraid is not worth saving. I cried, laughed, and whooped out loud when I read her comments yesterday. That's what hope feels like.
Agree; certainly 6-3 is very possible. Roberts' professed "institutional concern" for
SCOTUS is, "going south like a duck in Winter." Roberts is presiding over the sharp loss of Citizens' respect for this Court. What is he going to due-write the majority opinion & seal his reputation as the worst CJ ever?
And of course he's all in favor of the rich getting their undue influence on politics-remember it was his court that said corporations are people in the Citizens Untied decision.
The "clowns" take their guidance from the Old Testament. They think everyone does, or should. They speak for "god", therefore we should all support them.
I posted this on my FB page today: "KBJ is going to make the Stench Bench look like the unqualified and inept fools they are - and by that I'm talking about Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas, Kavanaugh and Barrett...and Roberts if he can't get his head screwed on straight."
I also hold out some hope for Roberts, even though his worldview and ideas of what America is about make me sick. He does seem to be somewhat uneasy with the slash-and-burn approach of his five Republican colleagues.
And that light is bright and beautiful!! At long last, we have a REAL JUSTICE there!!! Just in that one exchange, she raised the potential credibility and trust in SCOTUS out of the pitiful depths... been a L-O-N_G time coming... the other two female justices must be more than delighted... and RBG must be smiling down!! :-)
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed.” That was the chilling comment from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) about escalating threats of violence and other intimidating acts against members of Congress. We would like to think the senator was being hyperbolic, but it’s hard to look at the surge in violent threats and confrontations and not fear the worst.’
‘Political violence has occurred throughout U.S. history, but what is new in modern times — and alarming — is its journey from the fringes to center stage, thanks largely to the dangerous rhetoric of former president Donald Trump. According to the Times, in the five years after Mr. Trump was elected in 2016, following a campaign marked by his virulent discourse, the number of threats recorded by the Capitol Police against members of Congress increased more than tenfold, to 9,625 in 2021; the first quarter of 2022 saw 1,820 cases opened.’
‘Members of Congress from both parties have been targeted, but the Times’s review showed that more than a third of the threats were made by Republican or pro-Trump individuals against Democrats or Republicans seen as disloyal to Mr. Trump. Nearly a quarter were made by Democrats targeting Republicans, while party affiliations could not be determined in the other cases. Particularly vulnerable are lawmakers of color.’
The preceding was and an excerpt from today’s Washington Post OPINION, By the Editorial Board
"Hang Mike Pence" was a stated objective on January 6, 2021 of members of her own Republican party. We now know that objective was endorsed by the sitting president of the United States at that time, a member of her own party. Susan Collins is a professional fence sitter. Never willing to take a stand for the right reason at a critical juncture.
The Repubbie Mainers reviled her for being "too centrist" (a RINO, in other words) and the Demmie Mainers pointed at her voting record (which USED to be more bipartisan--but not since her Republican colleague, Olympia Snowe, retired) and said she was under drumpf's and McConnell's thumbs. The wonder is that she got re-elected at all this last cycle.
But Susie is a fence-sitting, pearl-clutching weathervane and a real piece of work--no question whatsoever.
In some ways, Maine is a microcosm of the nation. There are many very rich Oligarchs who have homes there. They would support Jeffrey Dahmer for Senate if it meant lower taxes on their obscene wealth. And then there are the MAGAs that live in "the County" where jobs making shoes and paper vanished long ago. They cobble together a life with three or four part time jobs, poor health care and absolutely no vision of a path to a better life. They are defeated and angry. All it takes is a lying putz to stir up their simmering resentment.
We as a nation abandoned them just as we abandoned the paper mills and the shoe factories. In other states, it was other industries like steel or auto manufacturing (washing machines!?) It is a formula for disaster.
I applaud the recent efforts in "The Inflation Reduction Act" to bring manufacturing back to our country. But it is several decades late. The Oligarchs don't give a shit. They just want high profits using cheap labor and the rest of us be damned.
The County is a region unto itself...paper and shoes were never part of their "economic base" (with the exception of Madawaska, which is at the very top end). The military SAC base (Loring Air Force Base, closed in the early 90's), logging and potatoes have been the mainstay of The County...but the SAC base was abandoned and Chinese paper became cheaper. Farming is still going--barely. Aroostook County is, indeed, very rural, very poor and struggling. It's no real wonder why Fox News and their darling drumpf gained ascendency. Health care is scarce and and there is little "vision of a better path", as Mr. Alstrom puts it.
That being said...there are simmering resentments almost every place one looks--MAGAs are common in The County; but they aren't unusual anywhere else in Maine, either. Thank goodness, the "cities" in southern Maine are far more densely populated and very blue, off-setting the deep maroon of our more rural but less populous areas.
I stand corrected. I really should not have applied the term "The County" so broadly. Perhaps I should have called it "Central or Inland Maine". The difference between York or Cumberland counties and the rest of the state is dramatic and a tale of two worlds.
And it is too simplistic to label regions. I guess my point is that for thousands of Mainers life has just about as little hope as those in the UP of Michigan or the vast Rust Belt.
That being said, I love our former State O' Maine. :)
Thank you! I am a lifelong Mainer and I live in the western part of Oxford County--which is also very rural, and very red (I think I may be one of perhaps a dozen and a half Dems in my tiny 'town'...I know this because we could caucus in a medium sized woodshed, if we needed to...)
Mr. Alstrom, you are correct in your reading of the blue areas of the state. York and Cumberland are largely blue with a small but vociferous red enclave in Falmouth...and there are small dots of blue in the rest of the state, such as Farmington, Waterville, Augusta, L-A and, surprisingly Bethel and Newry. The blue dots are driven by folks who come "from away" and college towns...education, diversity and a wider perspective; three things that seem to create a more liberal POV, God bless 'em.
T L, Thank you for providing us with information about Maine's economic circumstances with a view to understanding the consequences on residents. The facts are the way we can know one another beyond cliches and stereotyping.
Good point. The GOP under Reagan had a lot to do with the degradation of the manufacturing industry and infrastructure. That’s why it’s heartening to see some manufacturing returning.
Also contributing to this is the virulent anti-unionism of the oligarchy. Reagan helped make that seem like a good idea, and the “liberal” media swooned at Ronnie’s breaking of the PATCO strike.
I see laments about how things used to be everywhere, here in Salem, Oregon, and where I grow up, Elkhart, Indiana. When you want everything cheap and cheaply made, then it comes from overseas and oops there goes your jobs. Large corporations do not care about locals, only making a huge profit and giving their CEOs, etc. obscene salaries and tending to their shareholders. Please do not whine about the old downtown and then buy elsewhere, first at big box stores, and now Amazon. A sign of union growth in some places is a sign that people have had enough. I wish it were more obvious to people what Biden has achieved with some the measures he has supported and Congress has passed.
Yowser...I hate to agree with you...but it's true. There 'might' be a little Civics Education left in some high schools, but I'm guessing probably not; I doubt it's mandatory for graduation the way it was when I went to HS. Very sad state of affairs.
by design... since it's a lot easier to gain control when 'the people ' (given the 'power' by the Constitution) don't understand how it's all supposed to work.
and they're too tired, poor, sick, hungry, uneducated, and struggling just to stay housed and keep some strains of 'normal life' ... to care.
all by design... brought to us by the natural outcome of those clever corporatists, legally hiding behind the amoral veil of greed ... what a surprise... not.
I keep hearing/reading this about civics not being a requirement these days for HS graduation. I looked up the requirements for the state where I graduated (IL) and then AL, as they have such a poor reputation regarding education. Actually, both states require a bit more civics than when I graduated in 1974 (& I received a great education), so there are obviously other factors at play, such as curriculum/course content, quality of teachers due to relatively low pay & top-heavy, highly-paid administrators, and unequal funding of districts, giving short-shrift to poorer areas, to name just a few.
I hope that the dem idiots refrain from being as violently moronic as republican idiots. Oh please, let us not sink that low and continue that “both sides” bull Schitt. One crazy, unhinged party is more than enough…
There are idiots, or more likely, infantile personalities in adult bodies found in every walk of life, but I have only noticed one major US party consistently inviting and cultivating violence.
Exactly. Thanks for sharing this. We are witnessing the 2022 Hunger Games, whose ultimate goal is self-inflicted murder. There's a lot of political ambition running rampant these days, but very, very little wisdom.
Hi Fern, What is being formally acknowledged is; TFG loves to incite violence and all the negative “isms”. We know this is true because we have miles of video of him doing so. Sen. Collins seems a bit concerned after having voted with TFG 67% on his policies (that kind of surprised me, thought it would be higher). Violence is one of his many sociopathic needs, and Trumpers give TFG what he craves. But it’s dwindling, and now we’re pretty sure of what we suspected all along. As he sinks toward insanity, he’ll be resorting to blackmail of the Senators and Congress and SCOTUS’s he has dirt on. They’ve put their stamp on his calls for violence every time. McConnell being the latest to show his refusal to refute any violence or answer any threat there of. So it just keeps getting more acceptable to Republicans. They have every reason to be afraid.
Somehow, Collins doesn't strike me as being hyperbolic. She's so carefully balanced on the fence du jour, it is more than startling to hear a comment like this come out of her mouth.
Ellen, I posted an excerpt of another article (NYTimes) about heightened threats of political violence with eagerness on the part of some for Civil War. It is not very far from top of comments. Reality as usual has been far ahead of Collins. She's catching up. I think there is reason for concern.
Warnings of widespread political violence in the USA has dramatically increased.
'Soon after the F.B.I. searched Donald J. Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents, online researchers zeroed in on a worrying trend.'
'Posts on Twitter that mentioned “civil war” had soared nearly 3,000 percent in just a few hours as Mr. Trump’s supporters blasted the action as a provocation. Similar spikes followed, including on Facebook, Reddit, Telegram, Parler, Gab and Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform. Mentions of the phrase more than doubled on radio programs and podcasts, as measured by Critical Mention, a media-tracking firm.'
'Posts mentioning “civil war” jumped again a few weeks later, after President Biden branded Mr. Trump and “MAGA Republicans” a threat to “the very foundations of our republic” in a speech on democracy in Philadelphia.'
'Now experts are bracing for renewed discussions of civil war, as the Nov. 8 midterm elections approach and political talk grows more urgent and heated.'
'More than a century and a half after the actual Civil War, the deadliest war in U.S. history, “civil war” references have become increasingly commonplace on the right. While in many cases the term is used only loosely — shorthand for the nation’s intensifying partisan divisions — observers note that the phrase, for some, is far more than a metaphor.'
'Polling, social media studies and a rise in threats suggest that a growing number of Americans are anticipating, or even welcoming, the possibility of sustained political violence, researchers studying extremism say. What was once the subject of serious discussion only on the political periphery has migrated closer to the mainstream.' (NYTimes) see gifted link below.
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) - "(NYTimes) see gifted link below."
It is as I suspected. I used a computer that I had never logged in to the NYT with. Your Link wouldn't allow me to read the article without first subscribing.
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) - "You're suggesting, no matter what use the whole animal, ok!"
Let me quickly point out this only applies to the "Gift Links." Other Links with all that extra can safely be edited. My guess it is only there to track who shares the information -- perhaps the original poster gets a kick-back.
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) -"Sorry to hear that Ron. First time it happened to my knowledge."
Not your fault. If your source said they were not subscribers, that is not on you -- you had no way of confirming their statement. I would have come to the same conclusion.
I am amazed at the ability of the republicans to lie and cheat so easily and blame the democrats and the non-republicans of lying. What happened to ethics, decency and standing up for the truth?
'I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.' ”
Well, an all-consuming quest in for exclusive, manipulative power should count as a "value", but the price has traditionally been one's soul. In our high-tech era, we refer to it as"scociopathy". It's still not a good thing.
Herschel Walker is the epitome of two very disturbing trends in American politics.
Partisanship has become so extreme that conservative Republicans will vote for anyone -- no matter how awful or hypocritical -- as long as they have an R after their name.
The second is that white evangelical Christians have abandoned any pretense of being an actual religion. Their sole driver is obtaining political power in order to preserve and extend their economic, social and political dominance.
Ethics, principles and most of all “family values” can be used or abandoned to suit the moment. So what if Walker paid for abortions, abused women and abandoned his family? He can give us political dominance now and that’s all that counts.
When all that matters is winning then Republicans have abandoned one of the underlying principles of elective democracy. That is a political party must be willing to accept losing sometimes as part of being in a democratic process.
Clearly the Republican Party and sadly many of its voters are no longer willing to lose. Or to be part of a functioning democracy.
When "winning" means subjugating, absolute power, you seek the very thing that the Constitution was designed to avoid; tyranny.
The motto engraved is the SCOTUS building is "Equal Justice Under Law". Republicans now reek of double standards; they literally slander the innocent and protect and celebrate the (Republican) guilty. I am disappointed that churches that (I suspect) are not just a cells in this cult of sociopathic power grab have not made a bigger stink about political hypocrisy and depravity, and gut-wrenching impacts on the deprived and innocent. Just one example has been the Trump era deliberately cruel and terroristic "family separations" of immigrants, a large number of which have yet to be reunited, because there was no plan for that.
'Trump Furious at Herschel Walker: “Only a Loser Pays His Bills”
'The former President Donald Trump hugs the U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker.'
'PALM BEACH (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump has angrily withdrawn his support from the U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker because, in the former President’s words, “only a loser pays his bills.”
'Reports that Walker paid a bill in 2009 “made me very upset and, quite frankly, very mad, because it means that Herschel, who I thought was a tremendous guy and very smart, is not so smart and maybe even a big dummy,” Trump posted on his social-media platform, Truth Social.' (Satire,NewYorker)
Mean hypocrites. Perhaps we are all hypocrites at some times to some degree, but not everyone is mean. I think Jekyll and Hyde are part of our human nature, but the trick is becoming civilized and the means is compassion. Jesus talked about that.
Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama were very close friends, and in close agreement about the need for compassion, even for the likes of Trump. But we can't let bullies bully.
Randy, I also think that the enormous changes due to technology (the work place and social connections), Reaganomics, supply side dominance, loss of unions, the hollowing of communities, Fox News, social media -- the economic system and the Rule of Law have strongly favored the ultra rich, (why has Trump and his ilk profited, so much from us for decades?), regular folks' mistrust in government has grown exponentially as a result and laid the groundwork for propaganda on a mass scale -- are major factors
I agree that technology is a big factor, but technology is tools, whether a lever or the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and tools, and the outcome of tools depends on how they are used. A kitchen knife can produce a salad or a crime scene.
As for what "supply side" is about , I think Lincoln's observation still hold:
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
Reagan's knife in the back of democracy by ridiculing and defaming it's connection to "the people" has much to do with current problems. Government is not the problem, it is a tool. It can be used for good or for evil. Corruption is a very serious problem. Tyranny is a very serious problem. Apart from of, by and for the people, Lincoln said this:
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities."
Not all forms of government are thus "legitimate".
That puts into words what I have so struggled to verbalize. You are 100% right on. I'm not sure how we get past it, outside of just voting at overwhelming rates and becoming more involved ourselves and running for office. I don't think it's possible to shame them anymore or use reasonable logic to change their behavior because they genuinely don't care.
All should read the "banned" book: The 1619 Project by Nikole Hanna-Jones. Hitler used America's slavery past as an example of how to gain power - America's real history of white supremacy.
As this demonstrates, and others have pointed out, the only principle of the GOP is the will to power. A corollary is that the ends justify the means. Also implied is that as long as they are in power they can live with any set of policies and laws as long it doesn’t threaten their power.
Furthermore, preservation of the hierarchy is implicit in this principle as well, because dismantling it would threaten their grip on power.
I literally saw Twitter accounts yesterday say that it didn't matter because he was still a Republican and therefore better than a Democrat. Republicans never have to maintain a position, the only standard they have is hypocrisy, double standards and just voting with Republicans. Hopefully it encourages more people who don't usually vote and women to get out and vote. Unfortunately when people believe they are part of the party of moral superiority and treat politics as a team sport this is what we get.... I'm not sure how to even sway those folks, the only way to win is to simply out vote them.
Shenny, DJT “happened to ethics, decency and standing up for the truth”. He and his minions are hell bent on making sure those vital qualities are eliminated from the American political system. We must all resist and VOTE BLUE for the tsunami in Roevember.
DJT is a current player, but the role is ancient, and plenty of horrifying history is tied to it. Republicans ditched decency with the pardon of Nixon and the closed-ranks defense of Reagan. DJT is more face of their wholesale abandonment of ethics and decency than it is it's cause. We all must attend to self-interest, but pursuit of self-interest in a truly predatory mode is the essence of evil.
SCOTUS I think went into partisan decline with Bush v Gore. It was naked partisanism without any legal justification, not a veil of lawful decency. Sandra Day O'Connor:
"It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue. Maybe the court should have said, ‘We’re not going to take it, goodbye.’”
She continued: “Obviously the court did reach a decision and thought it had to reach a decision. It turned out the election authorities in Florida hadn’t done a real good job there and kind of messed it up. And probably the Supreme Court added to the problem at the end of the day.”
The result, she allowed, “stirred up the public” and “gave the court a less than perfect reputation.”
I agree with you, 100Panthers. The Bush v Gore was a watershed moment for tyranny. I had not known about O’Connor’s comments, and they do not reflect well on her as someone who should have had the wisdom to realize a con job when it presented itself. She allowed a dangerous direction in American Politics to shift into hyperdrive.
Well, 100Panthers, O’Conner sure kept this opinion of hers out of the public eye when she signed on to the majority opinion, where all we know is that she concurred w the view that the “safe harbor” deadline of December 12th was the overriding concern in the case. If she truly believed there were these other (legitimate) & very important, issues at hand, she should have authored her own opinion. Sorry, Sandy: too little & way too late.
Way before tfg, anybody remember W/Dickie, or even Ronnie, and then there was the other Dick. But the propaganda machine has been in full force . As long as we revere the evil that came before, this and future generations will continue to build on shifting sand or a garbage dump, as it were.
Reality is indifferent to our fate. Ask the dinosaurs.
But reality can aid us if and when we get to know her, and get in sych, (as we do when we transform stuff we dig up into computers and cell phones; knowledge, not spells nor lies, lets it happen). Knowing and admitting* what's real helps. Lies are poison.
It never is for the power-obsessed. As for the Republican Party, while no party or even Lincoln was perfect, the "GOP" once really was "The Party of Lincoln". Republicans censured Joe McCarthy after the lawyer for the Army landed his iconic "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?". Enough of the nation resonated with that.
There are days when the news is so damned frustrating, as the country keeps banging its head against the walls. Today is one of those.
I came to the realization this year that having a history in America that goes back to 100 years before America was America can be a useful defense when I consider that my Quaker ancestors spent 175 years advocating for Abolition before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
As much as we all keep looking for simple solutions and quick fixes, there are none available and never have been. It's 243 years we've had the Constitution and we're still trying to get it right.
There is no "The End" fade to black and walk out of the theater with a sense of fulfillment.
I keep thinking “it’s just skin” about the racial divide. But it’s not. It’s anything that we can describe as “other.” Which we learn early, like in the Sesame Street song “this one thing is not like the other.” I know people, salt of the earth, who would do anything for others, as long as they looked the same. And some, even for “others” as long as they are “saving” them (missionary types). Any hope that we will someday identify as earthlings…. Nah. I had hope when the space program forced us to look at our “pale blue dot” and rethink our divisions. A blip on the earthly consciousness, apparently.
On Colbert the other night, Neil deGrasse Tyson said he wanted Musk to build a 'space bus' to take a load of the world's leaders up into orbit where they could look on that 'little blue dot' and see that national borders just disappeared... to show them we are all on the same planet in hopes they would learn something about humanity. A wonderful idea, but for too many of those leaders, the trip would only reinforce their egos.
My rather ghoulish and hilarious daughter had an imaginary "death plane" on which she placed various people, mainly politicians, whom she would like to see permanently vanish from the earth. A refinement of that might be a space bus filled with immoral, money and power-grabbing incompetents who are blasted into space on a one-way ticket. Musk on board, too.
James Vander Poel, Neil deGrasse Tyson is a 'hero' of mine, so thanks for bringing him into this conversation. I must disagree with you, however -- there is no way that looking at Planet Earth from orbit would reinforce their egos, unless they were only patting themselves on the back for being chosen to be on that trip, without looking out the window. The 'little blue dot' is just the beginning. The JWST has brought (and will continue to bring) a gloriously incomprehensible sense of Planet Earth's (therefore our) real history.
You've got it... patting themselves on the back for being chosen - and most of those egos would not be impressed with the view. And the images from Webb probably don't faze them either. de Grasse Tyson is also a hero of mine; his interview on Colbert was both funny and educational. Looking forward to reading his latest: "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization".
And also, Jeri, when I come across someone who will do anything for another by not seeing them as Other, I am soooooo humbled, and shake with acknowledgment that goodness and kindness are truly “The Way”.
Nailed it there, Jeri. Sadly--it was tRump and COVID and all the unmasking (no pun intended) of the hidden white nationalists that caused the irreparable ending of my bond with my multimillionaire-by-inheritance former "bff" when all these deeply hidden and deeply held beliefs came out. Signs were there for a very long time before. Either I was blind or chose not to see. I finally had the aha! moment and I pray the real Christians are as well.
One irony is that we are so closely related under the "skin" that it only takes a few alleles to make us different from one another. And we are all related to our shared distant ancestor which makes us all cousins.
I think one of the underlying frustrations of "boomers" is that there was this sense of a "march to justice and progress" during our youth. We had shaken up the "order" of things - challenging the military industrial complex, demanding universal human rights, blowing up antique social norms and prohibitions. We were on a road to a less regimented, more tolerant, open minded society.
But now in my dottering old age, I need to accept that it's all a slog. We were on a good path but we were naive. "Progress" is like a stock market graph.
There is no straight line to a better world. We gain a lot, we lose a bunch. We resume the fight and in the grand scheme, it's better. But not nearly good enough.
The current forces of Oligarchal Domination are echoes of the Gilded Age and Feudalism itself. And so it goes....
My greatest hope is that a new generation will rise up and demand their rights to live out from under the thumbs of the filthy rich. I see glimmers of hope. Unions are making small gains. Just maybe....
Sadly, that will be really stimulated only by greater hardship. For now, it's just too easy to fall into the comfy chair, flip on the 75" TV...simultaneously scrolling social media on your overpriced phone...only moving to use the bathroom or answer the door - Uber brings effortless meals!
It reminds me of that scene in Farenheit 451 when Montag returns home to find Mildred completely absorbed by the interactive TV. He has just returned from burning thousands of books. Hot hard work. She was played by Julie Christie. Heart be still. I felt so bad for him.... :)
The Quaker movement is one of the principle reasons I still see a good side to religion. I imagine “Prayer Warriors for Herschel” are pretty much the opposite.
Iran is looking hopeful. I am looking at Iranian women and hoping that this can be us in the future if the Republicans get their way. That at some point we will be courageous enough to overthrow their shackles and do whatever it takes to stand up to them. If they turn the USA into some sort of twisted theocracy, as they are trying to do, because no where in the Christian bible is it saying that women cannot have abortions, so where is this coming from? Also, is this a part of other religious texts? We know that life is considered to start at conception in the Jewish faith, so we are not a multi religious nation anymore but being taken over by some twisted White male ruler theocracy otherwise known as White Supremacy that the plantation owners shoved down the slaves throats, and now we are getting it recycled again, since it was never eradicated, but allowed to live in the minds and hearts of people who had nothing else to claim. It has been supported by too many. Why was the Equal Rights Amendment never passed? How could that be? We need to have a more equal society. The news about the American Women's Soccer Federation shows that business as usual stinks! I hope that we get the results that we want in the mid terms, but if not, what then? We cannot be complacent. Democrats should be taking lessons from Zelenskiy. He seems to understand how to take Russia's playbook and turn it against them. He is on the offensive, not the retreat. Whatever lies Putin tells, Zelenskiy is ahead of the narrative. We need to be and do that. We need to be ahead of the narratives that the Republicans are telling.
We are living it, TC, and know it is no movie. For most of us, including folks devastated by civic disorder, climate catastrophes, food depravation, economic insecurity, hatred, lack of affordable housing, inequality... we know this is no fantasy.
Excellent post. You’re 💯 % correct in pointing out they’re looking for easy fixes to complicated problems. I understand there’s no such thing, but we need to chug along and work through, not around our issues with determination and commitment. Only 2 Republicans have that kind of mettle, and they’ve been excommunicated by the party they were loyal to.
There’s 2:00 left in the 4th quarter, Dems are up by 3. There are no time outs, coach’s challenge or overtime. Republicans play politics, Democrats foster democracy. It’ll never be perfect, but we strive to get as close as we can.
Thank you Professor for highlighting today’s History in the Making. A new voice in The Supreme Court:
“Jackson then turned on its head the so-called “originalism” that has taken over the court. “I understood that we looked at the history and traditions of the Constitution and what the framers and founders thought about,” she said, “and when I drilled down to that level of analysis, it became clear to me that the framers themselves adopted the equal protection clause, the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment in a race-conscious way.”
Heather’s fb chat yesterday was on this very subject and I could hear her voice while reading the letter later that day! I usually just save the videos but maybe watching them the same day also illuminates what she will write later (on the political questions, usually on Tuesdays)
One can usually get a good idea of what Heather will cover in her upcoming LFAA by following her Twitter feed. There’s actually a bit of a game that some on FB play, re: predicting what her nightly Letter will cover.
But yeah, the Tuesday “Questions About Modern Politics” is best to watch that day while the Thursday history talks are relatively timeless!
“Jackson’s approach was about more than this case, important though it is. She brought to the court what has been called “progressive originalism” or, perhaps more accurately, legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern’s term “egalitarian constitutionalism.” The Reconstruction Amendments—the 13th, 14th, and 15th—give to the federal government the power to protect individual rights in the states, and originalists’ avoidance of them has always stood out. Those amendments launched an entirely new era in our history; scholars call it a “second founding.”
Now, it appears, that second founding has an advocate on the Supreme Court.”
I never truly understood , till yesterday, the impact a single justice could have, especially one in the minority. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is a legal ROCK STAR!
Every generation is a founding of a sort, else the spirit dies. We stand on "the shoulders of giants", and countless, "nameless" others who contributed to what we collectively know. We carry it forward, while learning and improving along the way, if we choose to be responsible.
This excellent lecture on Zelenskyi and Havel, and "essence precedes existence" is explaining how Russia and the US are going astray for the same reason. It is not a coincidence that Putin and Trump are best friends. Also clear that support for Ukraine is support for the healthy parts of the US, Europe, and Russia. We don't want to be in the boots and uniforms of Ukraine, but we sure want to be with their hearts.
The chump Putin alliance was front and center in Helsinki. Chump’s loss slowed things down but both are patient and able to wait, with more Machiavellian moves than a chess master. But we shouldn’t be lulled into thinking that the alliance is a thing of the past. Maybe there is a reason for the hashtag “Moscow Mitch.”
Thanks for posting this link, Olof. Snyder’s lecture was brilliant: “living in truth” has much to recommend it, absolutely. I particularly liked his musical references as the subject of rock ‘n’ roll & its importance in communication, particularly in the world at large, is near & dear to me. Zappa would be proud.
Same here with the musical reference! Teachers with a wide frame of references was what I loved about American teachers in my year as a visiting student. I also particularly liked the analysis of 'only existence' as the key to parts of both Russia and the US today; the nostalgia of falsely written history as the only alternative if we don't have an essence, and a vision of a better future.
The letter tonight with the supporting notes is a powerful read. I especially appreciated Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's comments regarding Merrill v. Milligan. She, much like yourself, is a much needed breath of thoughtful and learned fresh air!
11th Cir reversed Trump's newly appointed (November after losing election) clowns on Dis. Ct. Aileen 'Loose' Cannon that protected him from DOJ reviewing seized CLASSIFIED documents. Trump has appealed 11th Cir. to S.Ct.. GUESS who gets the case at S.Ct. Case goes to the 'Circuit Justice for the 11th Cir., Clarence Thomas'.
Well, if traitor ginni’s husband botched it, it may actually bring out more voters this election for the democrats. I am almost hoping he’ll do that. With the new congress and the senate perhaps we can impeach these scotus members and be done once and for all.
Jeri: It’s suppose to be used for emergency rulings, but it has been increasingly used & abused, starting in the 1980s.
This article from the Brennan Center is a good one; after the intro paragraph (which gives a general “why”), the first heading is, “What is the Shadow Docket.” Following that are paragraphs that provide a history of its change in use over the years, examples of recent shadow rulings, and why its use is problematic.
Even CJ Roberts has expressed concern. In “Louisiana v American Rivers,” he joined the liberals in an opinion, by Kagan, on how the shadow docket has gone “astray” and that “the Court’s emergency docket [is] not for emergencies at all,” but has become “only another place for merits determinations — except made without full briefing and argument.”
But as nothing about its use has changed (except for its increasingly frequent usage), it’s yet another example of how little control Roberts wields over this court.
Congressman Scott DesJarlais, R-TN, a doctor, paid for an abortion for a former patient years ago. He got re-elected. Repubs don’t actually care about abortion when someone has an R after their name. Like everything else, it’s performative.
Following his 2012 election, the Chattanooga Times Free Press found that the transcript of his 2001 divorce "revealed that that his former wife had had two abortions." (He also was reprimanded for having sex with two patients which resulted in fines of $250 each plus $1000 in costs.) He said after the 2012 election, "God has forgiven me" and asked "fellow Christians" and constituents "to consider doing the same." Apparently, they did. He has been re-elected 4 times since this news broke. He's working on the 5th re-election. [Quotes are from Wikipedia in the "Sex, abortion and drug scandals" section. The "Personal life" section piles on...]
It has to do with keeping their cult riled up and controlling women. If women's civil rights are threatened, then they will understandably focus on trying to protect those rights. There will be less energy available to challenge other aspects of their rotten agenda. Keep them divided and occupied.
“Dana Loesch….made the position of party leaders clear: ‘I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles,’ she said. “‘I want control of the Senate.’”
Saying out loud what the GOP’s actions have indicated over the last four decades; political power is everything, culminating in the nomination, election, and continuing support for a moral/ethical cretin for President. Family values, personal responsibility, the moral high ground, (hah!) school prayer, etc. were talking points; election-time smoke and mirrors.
Kentanji Brown Jackson hit the ground running today and what she said was perfect. Alabama and Mississippi are the two most fascist states yet their black population is large. They are continuing to try and throw blacks under the bus by challenging Section 2 of I believe, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It reads in part:
“Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.”
This unfortunately, has gone to SCOTUS where we have a majority conservative (and obnoxious) court. Wake me up when we expand this court!
Thank you Heather for today's newsletter. Hurrah for Kentanji Brown Jackson. She is a voice of reason among the troglodyte majority in the Supreme Court. As for Hershel Walker, by any honest accounting he should be toast. Dana Loesch pretty much stated the entire republican party's goal: It doesn't matter how we get there, but the Senate rule must be returned to the Republicans. I take this as a warning to expect more dirty tricks from their side.
How wise is it to have a US Senate candidate that has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, a history of domestic violence, multiple personalities, and voices in his head? Herschel wrote a book ( with help) about his personal struggle with mental health. Academically he never graduated from college, because he never truly graduated from high school.As a young man he was exploited for his athleticism and as an old man for his celebrity and identity, not for any communications skill. He lacks knowledge of important issues and policy understanding. What stressors of the job are ahead for Herschel should he win? What will be the consequences to himself or constituents should he forget to take his meds?
Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorderhttps://a.co/d/1mDYWBn
What is wrong with these rich aging NFL stars, too many concussions on the field? OJ kills his wife and her friend, Brett Favre receives millions from Mississippi welfare funds for state of the art volleyball for his volley-playing princess daughter, and Herschel, who can't complete a sentence, vehemently spews against absentee dads and abortion is an utter hypocrite....
Thank you for your thoughts on candidate Walker. There is no way, given all his issues and shortcomings, that he should be a candidate. I hate to think of the harm of him being elected, both to him and to our country. He needs help.
Yup. Herschel’s Walkers whole life has been one manipulation after another. Failing all HS classes, forging his transcripts, getting an athletic scholarship to play football at Georgia, lured by TFG to the USFL, instead of the NFL, denying him an agent to contract his market price. He has been used over and over again at his own expense and is a risk to his family & friends.
I am so impressed with Ketanji Brown Jackson. Her integrity, intelligence and Grace put the five dark money federalists on the court to shame.
Karen RN, she is a breath of fresh air
KBJ seems to have reviewed the Reactionary Radical’s game plan and is using her questioning of “the lawyers” to poke needles in the eyes of the Federalist Judges
“Ouch. NOT FAIR”
“The Girl” did her homework
To borrow a phrase, “Here Come Da Judge”
Thank you, for a good chuckle, and a reminder of the humor that has kept America strong through centuries!
Will Rogers approves this message
I hope her wisdom exposes their hypocritical, undemocratic stances and brings them down on their knees....
Originalism is to constitutional interpretation what Reaganomics is to economic theory: they both rely on passing off a perverse and selective rationality as sincere reason. Which, of course, is a con. Which, of course, is how we got a voting bloc duly conditioned to embrace an actual conman for the highest office in the land. What's interesting to me here is that Justice Jackson had the perfect case to introduce herself as ready to challenge the con of Originalism on the bench. Fortunately, it appears that we are finally at a historical point where the financial markets recognize what a bad idea strict supply side economics is. Thanks a bunch, Prime Minister Truss. Unfortunately, the courts don't respond to popular experience the way markets do--if, um not always swiftly--so the best that can probably be done is to keep getting judges who will challenge Originalism in their opinions. Which means keeping Republicans out of the White House and Senate. As with having to deal with Covid, it's going to be a long haul to minimize the effects of this period of jurisprudence.
Your every adjective spot on Karen; Justice Jackson opened a new era of Constitutional law. I can hardly wait for her first opinion whether for the majority, in cocurrence or in dissent. I am going to read them all.
Poor woman, I feel bad for her. She is 52yo. Another 40 years hanging out with Thomas, Roberts, Alito and the gang. AHhhhhhhhh!
She is in her glory. She may be surrounded by Handmaids Tale Commanders, but she is the higher intellect, the better speaker and she is a Justice motivated to bring real justice to America. Her first few questions are just a hint of what she will be doing on the Court.
Compare that with the fact that it was DECADES before Thomas would even ask one question. Maybe "Ginni" finally gave him the go ahead...
We need a champion that kind of courage (and strong stomach).
The press suggests she will have little power as a minority Justice. They underestimate her. As I learned from Justice Ginsburg, copious, well-reasoned opinions lay the ground work for future cases, even if the current case isn't won. I trust she will part their hair with her knowledge of history and law, her passion coupled with her life experience.
I just said to my husband this morning before reading your post that I can't imagine a worse job than being on the Supreme Court--I would not be able to get out of bed in the morning, cringing at the thought of having to be in the same room as those wackos....
Hopefully, she will out live them!
Well those 3 wont be around that long, even worse is Barrett and Kavanaugh, ugh.
The encouraging thing about Barrett and Kavanaugh is that they're "squishier" than Thomas, Alito, and Gorsuch, who are so locked into their antebellum view of the ideal America that there might as well be bars on the door.
love that "squishier". I sure hope you are right. I think Kavanaugh is a dingdong but Barrett is brain washed and completely living on this planet.
I've been referring to Amy as "Coney Rabbit" (how could I resist?) for so long that I keep forgetting her real name.
🤣🤣🤣
She is going to outlast them, thankfully!
Thomas is 74, Alito is 72, so I don’t think so.
Finally, a small bit of hope in so much darkness...
Once again a Black woman rises to the occasion to save a country that I'm often afraid is not worth saving. I cried, laughed, and whooped out loud when I read her comments yesterday. That's what hope feels like.
You mean 6 dark money Federalists.
We will see the outcome of this first case possibly very soon. One is never certain but, 5-4 may be the decision.
Roberts hates voting rights, going back to his time in the Bush (senior) administration. It might be 6-3.
Agree; certainly 6-3 is very possible. Roberts' professed "institutional concern" for
SCOTUS is, "going south like a duck in Winter." Roberts is presiding over the sharp loss of Citizens' respect for this Court. What is he going to due-write the majority opinion & seal his reputation as the worst CJ ever?
And of course he's all in favor of the rich getting their undue influence on politics-remember it was his court that said corporations are people in the Citizens Untied decision.
Oops! You are correct JR. Thank you
You really summed it up--how can the clowns openly argue against integrity and facts and then boo hoo because the public distrusts them??
The "clowns" take their guidance from the Old Testament. They think everyone does, or should. They speak for "god", therefore we should all support them.
👋 👋 👋 👋 👋 👋 👋
I posted this on my FB page today: "KBJ is going to make the Stench Bench look like the unqualified and inept fools they are - and by that I'm talking about Alito, Gorsuch, Thomas, Kavanaugh and Barrett...and Roberts if he can't get his head screwed on straight."
I also hold out some hope for Roberts, even though his worldview and ideas of what America is about make me sick. He does seem to be somewhat uneasy with the slash-and-burn approach of his five Republican colleagues.
He's got to be thinking about his legacy... and right now... it's not looking great.
No kidding. And packing the historical profession with supporters is a whole lot harder than packing the Suptreme Court!
Nice!
KBJ is looking at the law through fresh eyes and we see the light in those eyes!
And that light is bright and beautiful!! At long last, we have a REAL JUSTICE there!!! Just in that one exchange, she raised the potential credibility and trust in SCOTUS out of the pitiful depths... been a L-O-N_G time coming... the other two female justices must be more than delighted... and RBG must be smiling down!! :-)
YES!!!!
And it's about time!
“I wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed.” That was the chilling comment from Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) about escalating threats of violence and other intimidating acts against members of Congress. We would like to think the senator was being hyperbolic, but it’s hard to look at the surge in violent threats and confrontations and not fear the worst.’
‘Political violence has occurred throughout U.S. history, but what is new in modern times — and alarming — is its journey from the fringes to center stage, thanks largely to the dangerous rhetoric of former president Donald Trump. According to the Times, in the five years after Mr. Trump was elected in 2016, following a campaign marked by his virulent discourse, the number of threats recorded by the Capitol Police against members of Congress increased more than tenfold, to 9,625 in 2021; the first quarter of 2022 saw 1,820 cases opened.’
‘Members of Congress from both parties have been targeted, but the Times’s review showed that more than a third of the threats were made by Republican or pro-Trump individuals against Democrats or Republicans seen as disloyal to Mr. Trump. Nearly a quarter were made by Democrats targeting Republicans, while party affiliations could not be determined in the other cases. Particularly vulnerable are lawmakers of color.’
The preceding was and an excerpt from today’s Washington Post OPINION, By the Editorial Board
"Hang Mike Pence" was a stated objective on January 6, 2021 of members of her own Republican party. We now know that objective was endorsed by the sitting president of the United States at that time, a member of her own party. Susan Collins is a professional fence sitter. Never willing to take a stand for the right reason at a critical juncture.
Alas, you are altogether too, too correct.
The Repubbie Mainers reviled her for being "too centrist" (a RINO, in other words) and the Demmie Mainers pointed at her voting record (which USED to be more bipartisan--but not since her Republican colleague, Olympia Snowe, retired) and said she was under drumpf's and McConnell's thumbs. The wonder is that she got re-elected at all this last cycle.
But Susie is a fence-sitting, pearl-clutching weathervane and a real piece of work--no question whatsoever.
Susie Q never walks her talk and personally I can't stand to hear her talk.
In some ways, Maine is a microcosm of the nation. There are many very rich Oligarchs who have homes there. They would support Jeffrey Dahmer for Senate if it meant lower taxes on their obscene wealth. And then there are the MAGAs that live in "the County" where jobs making shoes and paper vanished long ago. They cobble together a life with three or four part time jobs, poor health care and absolutely no vision of a path to a better life. They are defeated and angry. All it takes is a lying putz to stir up their simmering resentment.
We as a nation abandoned them just as we abandoned the paper mills and the shoe factories. In other states, it was other industries like steel or auto manufacturing (washing machines!?) It is a formula for disaster.
I applaud the recent efforts in "The Inflation Reduction Act" to bring manufacturing back to our country. But it is several decades late. The Oligarchs don't give a shit. They just want high profits using cheap labor and the rest of us be damned.
The County is a region unto itself...paper and shoes were never part of their "economic base" (with the exception of Madawaska, which is at the very top end). The military SAC base (Loring Air Force Base, closed in the early 90's), logging and potatoes have been the mainstay of The County...but the SAC base was abandoned and Chinese paper became cheaper. Farming is still going--barely. Aroostook County is, indeed, very rural, very poor and struggling. It's no real wonder why Fox News and their darling drumpf gained ascendency. Health care is scarce and and there is little "vision of a better path", as Mr. Alstrom puts it.
That being said...there are simmering resentments almost every place one looks--MAGAs are common in The County; but they aren't unusual anywhere else in Maine, either. Thank goodness, the "cities" in southern Maine are far more densely populated and very blue, off-setting the deep maroon of our more rural but less populous areas.
I stand corrected. I really should not have applied the term "The County" so broadly. Perhaps I should have called it "Central or Inland Maine". The difference between York or Cumberland counties and the rest of the state is dramatic and a tale of two worlds.
And it is too simplistic to label regions. I guess my point is that for thousands of Mainers life has just about as little hope as those in the UP of Michigan or the vast Rust Belt.
That being said, I love our former State O' Maine. :)
Thank you! I am a lifelong Mainer and I live in the western part of Oxford County--which is also very rural, and very red (I think I may be one of perhaps a dozen and a half Dems in my tiny 'town'...I know this because we could caucus in a medium sized woodshed, if we needed to...)
Mr. Alstrom, you are correct in your reading of the blue areas of the state. York and Cumberland are largely blue with a small but vociferous red enclave in Falmouth...and there are small dots of blue in the rest of the state, such as Farmington, Waterville, Augusta, L-A and, surprisingly Bethel and Newry. The blue dots are driven by folks who come "from away" and college towns...education, diversity and a wider perspective; three things that seem to create a more liberal POV, God bless 'em.
T L, Thank you for providing us with information about Maine's economic circumstances with a view to understanding the consequences on residents. The facts are the way we can know one another beyond cliches and stereotyping.
Good point. The GOP under Reagan had a lot to do with the degradation of the manufacturing industry and infrastructure. That’s why it’s heartening to see some manufacturing returning.
Also contributing to this is the virulent anti-unionism of the oligarchy. Reagan helped make that seem like a good idea, and the “liberal” media swooned at Ronnie’s breaking of the PATCO strike.
I see laments about how things used to be everywhere, here in Salem, Oregon, and where I grow up, Elkhart, Indiana. When you want everything cheap and cheaply made, then it comes from overseas and oops there goes your jobs. Large corporations do not care about locals, only making a huge profit and giving their CEOs, etc. obscene salaries and tending to their shareholders. Please do not whine about the old downtown and then buy elsewhere, first at big box stores, and now Amazon. A sign of union growth in some places is a sign that people have had enough. I wish it were more obvious to people what Biden has achieved with some the measures he has supported and Congress has passed.
Yowser...I hate to agree with you...but it's true. There 'might' be a little Civics Education left in some high schools, but I'm guessing probably not; I doubt it's mandatory for graduation the way it was when I went to HS. Very sad state of affairs.
by design... since it's a lot easier to gain control when 'the people ' (given the 'power' by the Constitution) don't understand how it's all supposed to work.
and they're too tired, poor, sick, hungry, uneducated, and struggling just to stay housed and keep some strains of 'normal life' ... to care.
all by design... brought to us by the natural outcome of those clever corporatists, legally hiding behind the amoral veil of greed ... what a surprise... not.
I keep hearing/reading this about civics not being a requirement these days for HS graduation. I looked up the requirements for the state where I graduated (IL) and then AL, as they have such a poor reputation regarding education. Actually, both states require a bit more civics than when I graduated in 1974 (& I received a great education), so there are obviously other factors at play, such as curriculum/course content, quality of teachers due to relatively low pay & top-heavy, highly-paid administrators, and unequal funding of districts, giving short-shrift to poorer areas, to name just a few.
The other factor in play is the ubiquitous conservative media platforms. They drown out school and everything Else.
Or just plain "Deductive Reasoning", my favorite Jury Instruction.
I’m sure Ms Collins will be “concerned” when it happens, and then proclaim that “maybe now” TFG will have learned his lesson
LOL. Thanks for the Senator Collins Anthem!!
She may even be "troubled".
Oh oh, time for the Nitro pills, she’s getting “the vapors”
I hope that the dem idiots refrain from being as violently moronic as republican idiots. Oh please, let us not sink that low and continue that “both sides” bull Schitt. One crazy, unhinged party is more than enough…
There are idiots, or more likely, infantile personalities in adult bodies found in every walk of life, but I have only noticed one major US party consistently inviting and cultivating violence.
And that's not much of an argument for free will.
If law enforcement and courts face the violent they will stand down.
Exactly. Thanks for sharing this. We are witnessing the 2022 Hunger Games, whose ultimate goal is self-inflicted murder. There's a lot of political ambition running rampant these days, but very, very little wisdom.
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) - "The preceding was and an excerpt from today’s Washington Post OPINION, By the Editorial Board"
[Gift Link]
https://wapo.st/3Cyde0h
Hi Fern, What is being formally acknowledged is; TFG loves to incite violence and all the negative “isms”. We know this is true because we have miles of video of him doing so. Sen. Collins seems a bit concerned after having voted with TFG 67% on his policies (that kind of surprised me, thought it would be higher). Violence is one of his many sociopathic needs, and Trumpers give TFG what he craves. But it’s dwindling, and now we’re pretty sure of what we suspected all along. As he sinks toward insanity, he’ll be resorting to blackmail of the Senators and Congress and SCOTUS’s he has dirt on. They’ve put their stamp on his calls for violence every time. McConnell being the latest to show his refusal to refute any violence or answer any threat there of. So it just keeps getting more acceptable to Republicans. They have every reason to be afraid.
And yet Pence dismisses his own brush with the Reaper. Catatonic
The Ukrainians are coming after them!
Somehow, Collins doesn't strike me as being hyperbolic. She's so carefully balanced on the fence du jour, it is more than startling to hear a comment like this come out of her mouth.
Ellen, I posted an excerpt of another article (NYTimes) about heightened threats of political violence with eagerness on the part of some for Civil War. It is not very far from top of comments. Reality as usual has been far ahead of Collins. She's catching up. I think there is reason for concern.
Perhaps Collins was concerned.
Exactly! PERHAPS!
Warnings of widespread political violence in the USA has dramatically increased.
'Soon after the F.B.I. searched Donald J. Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents, online researchers zeroed in on a worrying trend.'
'Posts on Twitter that mentioned “civil war” had soared nearly 3,000 percent in just a few hours as Mr. Trump’s supporters blasted the action as a provocation. Similar spikes followed, including on Facebook, Reddit, Telegram, Parler, Gab and Truth Social, Mr. Trump’s social media platform. Mentions of the phrase more than doubled on radio programs and podcasts, as measured by Critical Mention, a media-tracking firm.'
'Posts mentioning “civil war” jumped again a few weeks later, after President Biden branded Mr. Trump and “MAGA Republicans” a threat to “the very foundations of our republic” in a speech on democracy in Philadelphia.'
'Now experts are bracing for renewed discussions of civil war, as the Nov. 8 midterm elections approach and political talk grows more urgent and heated.'
'More than a century and a half after the actual Civil War, the deadliest war in U.S. history, “civil war” references have become increasingly commonplace on the right. While in many cases the term is used only loosely — shorthand for the nation’s intensifying partisan divisions — observers note that the phrase, for some, is far more than a metaphor.'
'Polling, social media studies and a rise in threats suggest that a growing number of Americans are anticipating, or even welcoming, the possibility of sustained political violence, researchers studying extremism say. What was once the subject of serious discussion only on the political periphery has migrated closer to the mainstream.' (NYTimes) see gifted link below.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/05/us/politics/civil-war-social-media-trump.html?
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) - "(NYTimes) see gifted link below."
It is as I suspected. I used a computer that I had never logged in to the NYT with. Your Link wouldn't allow me to read the article without first subscribing.
Sorry to hear that Ron. First time it happened to my knowledge. You're suggesting, no matter what use the whole animal, ok!
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) - "You're suggesting, no matter what use the whole animal, ok!"
Let me quickly point out this only applies to the "Gift Links." Other Links with all that extra can safely be edited. My guess it is only there to track who shares the information -- perhaps the original poster gets a kick-back.
FERN MCBRIDE (NYC) -"Sorry to hear that Ron. First time it happened to my knowledge."
Not your fault. If your source said they were not subscribers, that is not on you -- you had no way of confirming their statement. I would have come to the same conclusion.
Thank you, Ron. 🌿
Yep: not gifted. I had to turn off JavaScript in order to read it.
I am amazed at the ability of the republicans to lie and cheat so easily and blame the democrats and the non-republicans of lying. What happened to ethics, decency and standing up for the truth?
"They have no actual values.
'I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles. I want control of the Senate.' ”
Well, an all-consuming quest in for exclusive, manipulative power should count as a "value", but the price has traditionally been one's soul. In our high-tech era, we refer to it as"scociopathy". It's still not a good thing.
Herschel Walker is the epitome of two very disturbing trends in American politics.
Partisanship has become so extreme that conservative Republicans will vote for anyone -- no matter how awful or hypocritical -- as long as they have an R after their name.
The second is that white evangelical Christians have abandoned any pretense of being an actual religion. Their sole driver is obtaining political power in order to preserve and extend their economic, social and political dominance.
Ethics, principles and most of all “family values” can be used or abandoned to suit the moment. So what if Walker paid for abortions, abused women and abandoned his family? He can give us political dominance now and that’s all that counts.
When all that matters is winning then Republicans have abandoned one of the underlying principles of elective democracy. That is a political party must be willing to accept losing sometimes as part of being in a democratic process.
Clearly the Republican Party and sadly many of its voters are no longer willing to lose. Or to be part of a functioning democracy.
That was lucid.
When "winning" means subjugating, absolute power, you seek the very thing that the Constitution was designed to avoid; tyranny.
The motto engraved is the SCOTUS building is "Equal Justice Under Law". Republicans now reek of double standards; they literally slander the innocent and protect and celebrate the (Republican) guilty. I am disappointed that churches that (I suspect) are not just a cells in this cult of sociopathic power grab have not made a bigger stink about political hypocrisy and depravity, and gut-wrenching impacts on the deprived and innocent. Just one example has been the Trump era deliberately cruel and terroristic "family separations" of immigrants, a large number of which have yet to be reunited, because there was no plan for that.
And there is only one way out: lock up those who break the law, and not just Oath Keeps morons. If Trump doesn't go down, the country surely will.
There WAS a plan. It was to HAVE NO plan
The objective was to use “fear of losing child” as a deterrent
'Trump Furious at Herschel Walker: “Only a Loser Pays His Bills”
'The former President Donald Trump hugs the U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker.'
'PALM BEACH (The Borowitz Report)—Donald J. Trump has angrily withdrawn his support from the U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker because, in the former President’s words, “only a loser pays his bills.”
'Reports that Walker paid a bill in 2009 “made me very upset and, quite frankly, very mad, because it means that Herschel, who I thought was a tremendous guy and very smart, is not so smart and maybe even a big dummy,” Trump posted on his social-media platform, Truth Social.' (Satire,NewYorker)
When satire is hard to spot right away, you know we're in deep schitt. Been that way for some time.
Thanks Fern!!
It's beyond revulsive--they call themselves Christian while being what Jesus abhorred the most, hypocrites....
Mean hypocrites. Perhaps we are all hypocrites at some times to some degree, but not everyone is mean. I think Jekyll and Hyde are part of our human nature, but the trick is becoming civilized and the means is compassion. Jesus talked about that.
Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama were very close friends, and in close agreement about the need for compassion, even for the likes of Trump. But we can't let bullies bully.
Randy, I also think that the enormous changes due to technology (the work place and social connections), Reaganomics, supply side dominance, loss of unions, the hollowing of communities, Fox News, social media -- the economic system and the Rule of Law have strongly favored the ultra rich, (why has Trump and his ilk profited, so much from us for decades?), regular folks' mistrust in government has grown exponentially as a result and laid the groundwork for propaganda on a mass scale -- are major factors
I agree that technology is a big factor, but technology is tools, whether a lever or the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, and tools, and the outcome of tools depends on how they are used. A kitchen knife can produce a salad or a crime scene.
As for what "supply side" is about , I think Lincoln's observation still hold:
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
Reagan's knife in the back of democracy by ridiculing and defaming it's connection to "the people" has much to do with current problems. Government is not the problem, it is a tool. It can be used for good or for evil. Corruption is a very serious problem. Tyranny is a very serious problem. Apart from of, by and for the people, Lincoln said this:
"The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities."
Not all forms of government are thus "legitimate".
That puts into words what I have so struggled to verbalize. You are 100% right on. I'm not sure how we get past it, outside of just voting at overwhelming rates and becoming more involved ourselves and running for office. I don't think it's possible to shame them anymore or use reasonable logic to change their behavior because they genuinely don't care.
Brilliant.
The party of sociopaths, sounds like, gasp, Nazis
The likes of Dana Loesch seem to be heading that direction.
She has been the voice of evil for a long while, still the spokesmodel for republican mayham
All should read the "banned" book: The 1619 Project by Nikole Hanna-Jones. Hitler used America's slavery past as an example of how to gain power - America's real history of white supremacy.
Nazi is easier to spell and understand. We need to dumb things down. Sigh.
They do have that “will to power” thing going on.
Read TC in LA’s essay today called “They Have No Bottom” (on Substack). It lays it out nicely.
Sadly.
“..An all-consuming quest in exclusive, manipulative power should count as a ‘Value’ “
Spot on, J. L. Graham! I say that is their ONLY “value”. The rest is just double-speak.
As this demonstrates, and others have pointed out, the only principle of the GOP is the will to power. A corollary is that the ends justify the means. Also implied is that as long as they are in power they can live with any set of policies and laws as long it doesn’t threaten their power.
Furthermore, preservation of the hierarchy is implicit in this principle as well, because dismantling it would threaten their grip on power.
I literally saw Twitter accounts yesterday say that it didn't matter because he was still a Republican and therefore better than a Democrat. Republicans never have to maintain a position, the only standard they have is hypocrisy, double standards and just voting with Republicans. Hopefully it encourages more people who don't usually vote and women to get out and vote. Unfortunately when people believe they are part of the party of moral superiority and treat politics as a team sport this is what we get.... I'm not sure how to even sway those folks, the only way to win is to simply out vote them.
Memories of O. J. Simpson. I guess what goes around, comes around; only to a new generation.
That quote got you too, eh? Honestly, to actually utter it....
Shenny, DJT “happened to ethics, decency and standing up for the truth”. He and his minions are hell bent on making sure those vital qualities are eliminated from the American political system. We must all resist and VOTE BLUE for the tsunami in Roevember.
DJT is a current player, but the role is ancient, and plenty of horrifying history is tied to it. Republicans ditched decency with the pardon of Nixon and the closed-ranks defense of Reagan. DJT is more face of their wholesale abandonment of ethics and decency than it is it's cause. We all must attend to self-interest, but pursuit of self-interest in a truly predatory mode is the essence of evil.
SCOTUS I think went into partisan decline with Bush v Gore. It was naked partisanism without any legal justification, not a veil of lawful decency. Sandra Day O'Connor:
"It took the case and decided it at a time when it was still a big election issue. Maybe the court should have said, ‘We’re not going to take it, goodbye.’”
She continued: “Obviously the court did reach a decision and thought it had to reach a decision. It turned out the election authorities in Florida hadn’t done a real good job there and kind of messed it up. And probably the Supreme Court added to the problem at the end of the day.”
The result, she allowed, “stirred up the public” and “gave the court a less than perfect reputation.”
Less than perfect reputation, sliding into an unfunny and dangerous joke,
I agree with you, 100Panthers. The Bush v Gore was a watershed moment for tyranny. I had not known about O’Connor’s comments, and they do not reflect well on her as someone who should have had the wisdom to realize a con job when it presented itself. She allowed a dangerous direction in American Politics to shift into hyperdrive.
Less than perfect? Understatement! And the best goes on.
Well, 100Panthers, O’Conner sure kept this opinion of hers out of the public eye when she signed on to the majority opinion, where all we know is that she concurred w the view that the “safe harbor” deadline of December 12th was the overriding concern in the case. If she truly believed there were these other (legitimate) & very important, issues at hand, she should have authored her own opinion. Sorry, Sandy: too little & way too late.
Way before tfg, anybody remember W/Dickie, or even Ronnie, and then there was the other Dick. But the propaganda machine has been in full force . As long as we revere the evil that came before, this and future generations will continue to build on shifting sand or a garbage dump, as it were.
Reality is indifferent to our fate. Ask the dinosaurs.
But reality can aid us if and when we get to know her, and get in sych, (as we do when we transform stuff we dig up into computers and cell phones; knowledge, not spells nor lies, lets it happen). Knowing and admitting* what's real helps. Lies are poison.
*as best we can
❤️ So many “dicks” have infiltrated and caused our country’s demise. Shameful
Or from our experience of American Society. Or perish from the earth.
And yes, a vote is a terrible, potentially disastrous thing to waste.
What ethics and decency? That’s not in their formulary, never really has been.
It never is for the power-obsessed. As for the Republican Party, while no party or even Lincoln was perfect, the "GOP" once really was "The Party of Lincoln". Republicans censured Joe McCarthy after the lawyer for the Army landed his iconic "Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of decency?". Enough of the nation resonated with that.
And Nixon knew the game was up when GOP congressional leaders told him they would vote to impeach if he didn't step down.
That was then, this is now. Sadly. Have you no sense of decency, republicans. Not a shrewd…
They gave those away in 1876 and don't feel they lost anything by so doing.
Those qualities have no value in their world
“Our base demands strength, not honor. Honor is so old school”
There are days when the news is so damned frustrating, as the country keeps banging its head against the walls. Today is one of those.
I came to the realization this year that having a history in America that goes back to 100 years before America was America can be a useful defense when I consider that my Quaker ancestors spent 175 years advocating for Abolition before Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
As much as we all keep looking for simple solutions and quick fixes, there are none available and never have been. It's 243 years we've had the Constitution and we're still trying to get it right.
There is no "The End" fade to black and walk out of the theater with a sense of fulfillment.
I keep thinking “it’s just skin” about the racial divide. But it’s not. It’s anything that we can describe as “other.” Which we learn early, like in the Sesame Street song “this one thing is not like the other.” I know people, salt of the earth, who would do anything for others, as long as they looked the same. And some, even for “others” as long as they are “saving” them (missionary types). Any hope that we will someday identify as earthlings…. Nah. I had hope when the space program forced us to look at our “pale blue dot” and rethink our divisions. A blip on the earthly consciousness, apparently.
On Colbert the other night, Neil deGrasse Tyson said he wanted Musk to build a 'space bus' to take a load of the world's leaders up into orbit where they could look on that 'little blue dot' and see that national borders just disappeared... to show them we are all on the same planet in hopes they would learn something about humanity. A wonderful idea, but for too many of those leaders, the trip would only reinforce their egos.
My rather ghoulish and hilarious daughter had an imaginary "death plane" on which she placed various people, mainly politicians, whom she would like to see permanently vanish from the earth. A refinement of that might be a space bus filled with immoral, money and power-grabbing incompetents who are blasted into space on a one-way ticket. Musk on board, too.
James Vander Poel, Neil deGrasse Tyson is a 'hero' of mine, so thanks for bringing him into this conversation. I must disagree with you, however -- there is no way that looking at Planet Earth from orbit would reinforce their egos, unless they were only patting themselves on the back for being chosen to be on that trip, without looking out the window. The 'little blue dot' is just the beginning. The JWST has brought (and will continue to bring) a gloriously incomprehensible sense of Planet Earth's (therefore our) real history.
You've got it... patting themselves on the back for being chosen - and most of those egos would not be impressed with the view. And the images from Webb probably don't faze them either. de Grasse Tyson is also a hero of mine; his interview on Colbert was both funny and educational. Looking forward to reading his latest: "Starry Messenger: Cosmic Perspectives on Civilization".
And also, Jeri, when I come across someone who will do anything for another by not seeing them as Other, I am soooooo humbled, and shake with acknowledgment that goodness and kindness are truly “The Way”.
Sadly accurate.
I'm afraid the only thing that would even begin to unite us as "earthlings" is the Earth being attacked by aliens...and even that's a "maybe".
Nailed it there, Jeri. Sadly--it was tRump and COVID and all the unmasking (no pun intended) of the hidden white nationalists that caused the irreparable ending of my bond with my multimillionaire-by-inheritance former "bff" when all these deeply hidden and deeply held beliefs came out. Signs were there for a very long time before. Either I was blind or chose not to see. I finally had the aha! moment and I pray the real Christians are as well.
One irony is that we are so closely related under the "skin" that it only takes a few alleles to make us different from one another. And we are all related to our shared distant ancestor which makes us all cousins.
Well said, TC.
I think one of the underlying frustrations of "boomers" is that there was this sense of a "march to justice and progress" during our youth. We had shaken up the "order" of things - challenging the military industrial complex, demanding universal human rights, blowing up antique social norms and prohibitions. We were on a road to a less regimented, more tolerant, open minded society.
But now in my dottering old age, I need to accept that it's all a slog. We were on a good path but we were naive. "Progress" is like a stock market graph.
There is no straight line to a better world. We gain a lot, we lose a bunch. We resume the fight and in the grand scheme, it's better. But not nearly good enough.
The current forces of Oligarchal Domination are echoes of the Gilded Age and Feudalism itself. And so it goes....
My greatest hope is that a new generation will rise up and demand their rights to live out from under the thumbs of the filthy rich. I see glimmers of hope. Unions are making small gains. Just maybe....
Sadly, that will be really stimulated only by greater hardship. For now, it's just too easy to fall into the comfy chair, flip on the 75" TV...simultaneously scrolling social media on your overpriced phone...only moving to use the bathroom or answer the door - Uber brings effortless meals!
It reminds me of that scene in Farenheit 451 when Montag returns home to find Mildred completely absorbed by the interactive TV. He has just returned from burning thousands of books. Hot hard work. She was played by Julie Christie. Heart be still. I felt so bad for him.... :)
The Quaker movement is one of the principle reasons I still see a good side to religion. I imagine “Prayer Warriors for Herschel” are pretty much the opposite.
Unless the Prayer Warriors are praying for a change of heart for Walker, they are just an extension of the repubs.
👍🏼
Societies don’t “change”, they evolve
As such, the incrementalism is exhaustingly slow, yet we perceiver to get better
Iran is looking hopeful. I am looking at Iranian women and hoping that this can be us in the future if the Republicans get their way. That at some point we will be courageous enough to overthrow their shackles and do whatever it takes to stand up to them. If they turn the USA into some sort of twisted theocracy, as they are trying to do, because no where in the Christian bible is it saying that women cannot have abortions, so where is this coming from? Also, is this a part of other religious texts? We know that life is considered to start at conception in the Jewish faith, so we are not a multi religious nation anymore but being taken over by some twisted White male ruler theocracy otherwise known as White Supremacy that the plantation owners shoved down the slaves throats, and now we are getting it recycled again, since it was never eradicated, but allowed to live in the minds and hearts of people who had nothing else to claim. It has been supported by too many. Why was the Equal Rights Amendment never passed? How could that be? We need to have a more equal society. The news about the American Women's Soccer Federation shows that business as usual stinks! I hope that we get the results that we want in the mid terms, but if not, what then? We cannot be complacent. Democrats should be taking lessons from Zelenskiy. He seems to understand how to take Russia's playbook and turn it against them. He is on the offensive, not the retreat. Whatever lies Putin tells, Zelenskiy is ahead of the narrative. We need to be and do that. We need to be ahead of the narratives that the Republicans are telling.
Genau, Linda!
We are living it, TC, and know it is no movie. For most of us, including folks devastated by civic disorder, climate catastrophes, food depravation, economic insecurity, hatred, lack of affordable housing, inequality... we know this is no fantasy.
Excellent post. You’re 💯 % correct in pointing out they’re looking for easy fixes to complicated problems. I understand there’s no such thing, but we need to chug along and work through, not around our issues with determination and commitment. Only 2 Republicans have that kind of mettle, and they’ve been excommunicated by the party they were loyal to.
There’s 2:00 left in the 4th quarter, Dems are up by 3. There are no time outs, coach’s challenge or overtime. Republicans play politics, Democrats foster democracy. It’ll never be perfect, but we strive to get as close as we can.
Thank you Professor for highlighting today’s History in the Making. A new voice in The Supreme Court:
“Jackson then turned on its head the so-called “originalism” that has taken over the court. “I understood that we looked at the history and traditions of the Constitution and what the framers and founders thought about,” she said, “and when I drilled down to that level of analysis, it became clear to me that the framers themselves adopted the equal protection clause, the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment in a race-conscious way.”
Listen to her voice:
https://youtu.be/PMgkI2yiw2U
Thank you, Irenie, for enabling us to hear the meaning of the 14th and 15th lucidly explained by Justice Jackson.
Thank you. So inspiring to hear her voice, her measured, reasoned analysis.
I wanna hear Justice KBJ do the 2nd Amendment! She could eloquently expose the racist root of that particular shibboleth.
Thanks for the link.
Heather’s fb chat yesterday was on this very subject and I could hear her voice while reading the letter later that day! I usually just save the videos but maybe watching them the same day also illuminates what she will write later (on the political questions, usually on Tuesdays)
One can usually get a good idea of what Heather will cover in her upcoming LFAA by following her Twitter feed. There’s actually a bit of a game that some on FB play, re: predicting what her nightly Letter will cover.
But yeah, the Tuesday “Questions About Modern Politics” is best to watch that day while the Thursday history talks are relatively timeless!
Well, whaddyaknow…you never ARE too old to learn something! Will have to re-arrange my (very busy) schedule on Tuesdays now!
Worth it!
If democracy holds, a Third Founding must follow.
“Jackson’s approach was about more than this case, important though it is. She brought to the court what has been called “progressive originalism” or, perhaps more accurately, legal analyst Mark Joseph Stern’s term “egalitarian constitutionalism.” The Reconstruction Amendments—the 13th, 14th, and 15th—give to the federal government the power to protect individual rights in the states, and originalists’ avoidance of them has always stood out. Those amendments launched an entirely new era in our history; scholars call it a “second founding.”
Now, it appears, that second founding has an advocate on the Supreme Court.”
Brava, Justice Jackson!
I never truly understood , till yesterday, the impact a single justice could have, especially one in the minority. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is a legal ROCK STAR!
She is a brilliant legal scholar, unlike mediocre handmaiden little Amy who is just pitiful.
Or Kavanaugh, the skirt chaser.
Impeach him. Vote Blue So We Can Do!!
The putrid five have no intention except to steamroll. Update the court, eleven sounds fair and doable, if…
13 is my favorite number!
Every generation is a founding of a sort, else the spirit dies. We stand on "the shoulders of giants", and countless, "nameless" others who contributed to what we collectively know. We carry it forward, while learning and improving along the way, if we choose to be responsible.
This excellent lecture on Zelenskyi and Havel, and "essence precedes existence" is explaining how Russia and the US are going astray for the same reason. It is not a coincidence that Putin and Trump are best friends. Also clear that support for Ukraine is support for the healthy parts of the US, Europe, and Russia. We don't want to be in the boots and uniforms of Ukraine, but we sure want to be with their hearts.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/thinking-truth-and-freedom-with-zelenskyi#details
Timothy Snyder's lecture takes us from birth to freedom. It is a wise and illuminating tour worth every minute of your time.
While the actions of Putin and tRump are similar, tRump was (is?) a useful idiot for Putin, who views tRump more as a puppet.
The chump Putin alliance was front and center in Helsinki. Chump’s loss slowed things down but both are patient and able to wait, with more Machiavellian moves than a chess master. But we shouldn’t be lulled into thinking that the alliance is a thing of the past. Maybe there is a reason for the hashtag “Moscow Mitch.”
Jerri, Machiavelli would be embarrased by Putin's current performance.
Yep, he’s proving to have a few really stupid moves
Thanks for posting this link, Olof. Snyder’s lecture was brilliant: “living in truth” has much to recommend it, absolutely. I particularly liked his musical references as the subject of rock ‘n’ roll & its importance in communication, particularly in the world at large, is near & dear to me. Zappa would be proud.
Same here with the musical reference! Teachers with a wide frame of references was what I loved about American teachers in my year as a visiting student. I also particularly liked the analysis of 'only existence' as the key to parts of both Russia and the US today; the nostalgia of falsely written history as the only alternative if we don't have an essence, and a vision of a better future.
I couldn't find a link that allows me to hear or read the talk. I found the conference and the program.
Try copying this and then Google it, Michael. I hope that it works for you.
"Thinking Truth and Freedom with Zelens'kyi and Havel"
Thank you, Fern. Obvious in retrospect. It was right there in front of me.
Not at all, Michael. We are alike in this respect. It took me several tries, and when it finally worked, I felt exactly as you did. : 0 ) !
The letter tonight with the supporting notes is a powerful read. I especially appreciated Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's comments regarding Merrill v. Milligan. She, much like yourself, is a much needed breath of thoughtful and learned fresh air!
SCOTUS badly needs it as well, if only to contrast with treachery.
Absolutely!
11th Cir reversed Trump's newly appointed (November after losing election) clowns on Dis. Ct. Aileen 'Loose' Cannon that protected him from DOJ reviewing seized CLASSIFIED documents. Trump has appealed 11th Cir. to S.Ct.. GUESS who gets the case at S.Ct. Case goes to the 'Circuit Justice for the 11th Cir., Clarence Thomas'.
Well, if traitor ginni’s husband botched it, it may actually bring out more voters this election for the democrats. I am almost hoping he’ll do that. With the new congress and the senate perhaps we can impeach these scotus members and be done once and for all.
We can dream, too many ostrich’s, I fear
And since it’s a shadow docket case, what we learn about the decision & reasoning behind same will be opaque at best.
Why is shadow docket even a thing??
Jeri: It’s suppose to be used for emergency rulings, but it has been increasingly used & abused, starting in the 1980s.
This article from the Brennan Center is a good one; after the intro paragraph (which gives a general “why”), the first heading is, “What is the Shadow Docket.” Following that are paragraphs that provide a history of its change in use over the years, examples of recent shadow rulings, and why its use is problematic.
Even CJ Roberts has expressed concern. In “Louisiana v American Rivers,” he joined the liberals in an opinion, by Kagan, on how the shadow docket has gone “astray” and that “the Court’s emergency docket [is] not for emergencies at all,” but has become “only another place for merits determinations — except made without full briefing and argument.”
But as nothing about its use has changed (except for its increasingly frequent usage), it’s yet another example of how little control Roberts wields over this court.
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/supreme-court-shadow-docket
Thanks for the link, Linda. The Brennan Center good as always.
You’re welcome. They’re much better at explaining shadow docket, etc., than am I.
Chump needs to be paid back for his majority. Thomas will surely try. Both evil to the core
The "fixer".
ArGHHHHHH!
“Loose Cannon” 😂 😆 😝
Congressman Scott DesJarlais, R-TN, a doctor, paid for an abortion for a former patient years ago. He got re-elected. Repubs don’t actually care about abortion when someone has an R after their name. Like everything else, it’s performative.
Hi, M.
Following his 2012 election, the Chattanooga Times Free Press found that the transcript of his 2001 divorce "revealed that that his former wife had had two abortions." (He also was reprimanded for having sex with two patients which resulted in fines of $250 each plus $1000 in costs.) He said after the 2012 election, "God has forgiven me" and asked "fellow Christians" and constituents "to consider doing the same." Apparently, they did. He has been re-elected 4 times since this news broke. He's working on the 5th re-election. [Quotes are from Wikipedia in the "Sex, abortion and drug scandals" section. The "Personal life" section piles on...]
He probably spends his acts of contrition by “owning the line.”
It’s like right there in Matthew chapter 9.
It has to do with keeping their cult riled up and controlling women. If women's civil rights are threatened, then they will understandably focus on trying to protect those rights. There will be less energy available to challenge other aspects of their rotten agenda. Keep them divided and occupied.
“Dana Loesch….made the position of party leaders clear: ‘I don’t care if Herschel Walker paid to abort endangered baby eagles,’ she said. “‘I want control of the Senate.’”
Saying out loud what the GOP’s actions have indicated over the last four decades; political power is everything, culminating in the nomination, election, and continuing support for a moral/ethical cretin for President. Family values, personal responsibility, the moral high ground, (hah!) school prayer, etc. were talking points; election-time smoke and mirrors.
But we knew that, didn’t we.
👏👏👏👏
Kentanji Brown Jackson hit the ground running today and what she said was perfect. Alabama and Mississippi are the two most fascist states yet their black population is large. They are continuing to try and throw blacks under the bus by challenging Section 2 of I believe, the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. It reads in part:
“Section 2.
Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a state, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such state, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.”
This unfortunately, has gone to SCOTUS where we have a majority conservative (and obnoxious) court. Wake me up when we expand this court!
"Alabama and Mississippi are the two most fascist states yet their black population is large".
Apartheid
Marlene, wake up this country! TFG still has a voice with his Supreme Court picks. Maybe they will suddenly see the light?
“This m, unfortunately, has gone to SCOTUS where we have a majority conservative (and obnoxious) court. Wake me up when we expand this court!”
And they revel in their rule.
Thank you Heather for today's newsletter. Hurrah for Kentanji Brown Jackson. She is a voice of reason among the troglodyte majority in the Supreme Court. As for Hershel Walker, by any honest accounting he should be toast. Dana Loesch pretty much stated the entire republican party's goal: It doesn't matter how we get there, but the Senate rule must be returned to the Republicans. I take this as a warning to expect more dirty tricks from their side.
The news that Associate Justice Jackson came to the “party” and “danced” has just made me “giddy”. Judge Breyer must be proud.
Thank you, Professor. Thank you. 💙
How wise is it to have a US Senate candidate that has been diagnosed with Dissociative Identity Disorder, a history of domestic violence, multiple personalities, and voices in his head? Herschel wrote a book ( with help) about his personal struggle with mental health. Academically he never graduated from college, because he never truly graduated from high school.As a young man he was exploited for his athleticism and as an old man for his celebrity and identity, not for any communications skill. He lacks knowledge of important issues and policy understanding. What stressors of the job are ahead for Herschel should he win? What will be the consequences to himself or constituents should he forget to take his meds?
Breaking Free: My Life with Dissociative Identity Disorderhttps://a.co/d/1mDYWBn
What is wrong with these rich aging NFL stars, too many concussions on the field? OJ kills his wife and her friend, Brett Favre receives millions from Mississippi welfare funds for state of the art volleyball for his volley-playing princess daughter, and Herschel, who can't complete a sentence, vehemently spews against absentee dads and abortion is an utter hypocrite....
A lot is wrong.
In American football
Thank you for your thoughts on candidate Walker. There is no way, given all his issues and shortcomings, that he should be a candidate. I hate to think of the harm of him being elected, both to him and to our country. He needs help.
Yup. Herschel’s Walkers whole life has been one manipulation after another. Failing all HS classes, forging his transcripts, getting an athletic scholarship to play football at Georgia, lured by TFG to the USFL, instead of the NFL, denying him an agent to contract his market price. He has been used over and over again at his own expense and is a risk to his family & friends.
Seems like they certainly caught a puppet for themselves.
Well Ted, that's a bunch of really scary stuff. The stress of the job could push him over the edge.