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babylonsister
babylonsister's Journal
babylonsister's Journal
July 17, 2023
MAGA’s perscution complex
Published by Tom Sullivan on July 17, 2023
Greg Sargent nails it
The failure of Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) House Judiciary Committee hearing last week to generate any kind of coherent narrative might have been expected (Washington Post):
And so on. “The zone-flooding conspiratorial antics will keep on coming. The MAGA persecution complex requires no less,” Greg Sargent concludes.
Grievance is in the right’s DNA as much as the South’s loss in the Civil War. I’m sorry, The War of Northern Aggression.
MAGA's perscution complex
https://digbysblog.net/2023/07/17/magas-perscution-complex/MAGA’s perscution complex
Published by Tom Sullivan on July 17, 2023
Greg Sargent nails it
The failure of Rep. Jim Jordan’s (R-Ohio) House Judiciary Committee hearing last week to generate any kind of coherent narrative might have been expected (Washington Post):
Blame it on the “MAGA persecution complex” — the vast array of outlets in the right-wing media ecosystem that incentivizes GOP lawmakers to pander to conservative victimization and grievance. It’s feasting on so many claims of persecution that it’s essentially eating itself to death.
At last week’s hearing, Republicans alleged that the FBI investigated conservative parents at school board meetings. (That’s entirely baseless.) They insisted FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, a registered Republican, personally sicced the FBI on conservatives. (Wray called this “insane.”) They claimed the FBI has eagerly persecuted Trump. (The FBI has actually been rule-bound and cautious.) They railed that FBI plants incited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. (The central evidence of this has collapsed.)
Republicans even insisted the FBI is riddled with anti-Catholic bias based on a field-level memo about radical right-wing Catholics that is indeed problematic. But Wray admitted to a serious error, declaring it subject to internal review. Presenting one example of abuse at a huge agency as proof of another vast conspiracy is silly.
At last week’s hearing, Republicans alleged that the FBI investigated conservative parents at school board meetings. (That’s entirely baseless.) They insisted FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, a registered Republican, personally sicced the FBI on conservatives. (Wray called this “insane.”) They claimed the FBI has eagerly persecuted Trump. (The FBI has actually been rule-bound and cautious.) They railed that FBI plants incited the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. (The central evidence of this has collapsed.)
Republicans even insisted the FBI is riddled with anti-Catholic bias based on a field-level memo about radical right-wing Catholics that is indeed problematic. But Wray admitted to a serious error, declaring it subject to internal review. Presenting one example of abuse at a huge agency as proof of another vast conspiracy is silly.
And so on. “The zone-flooding conspiratorial antics will keep on coming. The MAGA persecution complex requires no less,” Greg Sargent concludes.
Grievance is in the right’s DNA as much as the South’s loss in the Civil War. I’m sorry, The War of Northern Aggression.
July 17, 2023
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
7/16/2023
One Reason for a Speedy Trial for Trump: We Need to Know If He's Guilty Before Voting in 2024
snip//
See, one thing I keep coming back to with the potential delays in the trial of Donald Trump over his weird use and abuse of classified documents is that we better fucking establish his guilt or innocence before he's allowed near classified documents again. I mean, in seeking an indefinite delay, ideally until after the 2024 election, Trump's lawyers write, "While the Government appears to favor an expedited (and therefore cursory) approach to this case, it cannot point to any exigency or urgency requiring a rapid adjudication. There is no ongoing threat to national security interests nor any concern regarding continued criminal activity."
And then, in a part that sounds like it was dictated by Trump and ordered to be included, they go on, "President Trump is running for President of the United States and is currently the likely Republican Party nominee. This undertaking requires a tremendous amount of time and energy, and that effort will continue until the election on November 5, 2024...[Preparing for trial] requires significant planning and time, making the current schedule untenable and counseling in favor of a continuance."
This needs to be stated plainly: The ongoing threat to national security is that Donald fucking Trump can get his tiny orange paws on more top secret shit and do whatever the fuck he wants with it. Of course this is a national security issue. And, of fucking course, voters need to know that Trump fucked with our national security before they vote because there are still millions of people in this country who are stupid enough to vote for Trump. Even Trump's lawyers recognize this when they say, "[T]here is simply no question any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial." The impact on the election is the fucking point. Why shouldn't a conviction on mishandling classified shit not have an impact on an election? Would you say, "Yeah, he was found guilty of fucking kids, but we should totally let him work with kids again"?
Luckily, Special Counsel Jack Smith wasn't having any of it and said, in essence, "Are you assholes serious right now?" As the government writes, "Defendants Trump and Nauta claim unequivocally that they cannot receive a fair trial prior to the conclusion of the next presidential election, urge the Court to withdraw the current scheduling Order, and request that the Court not even consider a new trial date until some unspecified later time. There is no basis in law or fact for proceeding in such an indeterminate and open-ended fashion, and the Defendants provide none."
And it adds, "Finally, the demands of Defendants’ professional schedules do not provide a basis to delay trial in this case. Many indicted defendants have demanding jobs that require a considerable amount of their time and energy, or a significant amount of travel. The Speedy Trial Act contemplates no such factor as a basis for a continuance, and the Court should not indulge it here." Yeah, motherfuckers, everyone's got shit to do and would rather do that than go on trial for something that could put them in prison for years.
more...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2023/07/one-reason-for-speedy-trial-for-trump.html
Rude Pundit: One Reason for a Speedy Trial for Trump: We Need to Know If He's Guilty Before...2024
The Rude Pundit
Proudly lowering the level of political discourse
7/16/2023
One Reason for a Speedy Trial for Trump: We Need to Know If He's Guilty Before Voting in 2024
snip//
See, one thing I keep coming back to with the potential delays in the trial of Donald Trump over his weird use and abuse of classified documents is that we better fucking establish his guilt or innocence before he's allowed near classified documents again. I mean, in seeking an indefinite delay, ideally until after the 2024 election, Trump's lawyers write, "While the Government appears to favor an expedited (and therefore cursory) approach to this case, it cannot point to any exigency or urgency requiring a rapid adjudication. There is no ongoing threat to national security interests nor any concern regarding continued criminal activity."
And then, in a part that sounds like it was dictated by Trump and ordered to be included, they go on, "President Trump is running for President of the United States and is currently the likely Republican Party nominee. This undertaking requires a tremendous amount of time and energy, and that effort will continue until the election on November 5, 2024...[Preparing for trial] requires significant planning and time, making the current schedule untenable and counseling in favor of a continuance."
This needs to be stated plainly: The ongoing threat to national security is that Donald fucking Trump can get his tiny orange paws on more top secret shit and do whatever the fuck he wants with it. Of course this is a national security issue. And, of fucking course, voters need to know that Trump fucked with our national security before they vote because there are still millions of people in this country who are stupid enough to vote for Trump. Even Trump's lawyers recognize this when they say, "[T]here is simply no question any trial of this action during the pendency of a Presidential election will impact both the outcome of that election and, importantly, the ability of the Defendants to obtain a fair trial." The impact on the election is the fucking point. Why shouldn't a conviction on mishandling classified shit not have an impact on an election? Would you say, "Yeah, he was found guilty of fucking kids, but we should totally let him work with kids again"?
Luckily, Special Counsel Jack Smith wasn't having any of it and said, in essence, "Are you assholes serious right now?" As the government writes, "Defendants Trump and Nauta claim unequivocally that they cannot receive a fair trial prior to the conclusion of the next presidential election, urge the Court to withdraw the current scheduling Order, and request that the Court not even consider a new trial date until some unspecified later time. There is no basis in law or fact for proceeding in such an indeterminate and open-ended fashion, and the Defendants provide none."
And it adds, "Finally, the demands of Defendants’ professional schedules do not provide a basis to delay trial in this case. Many indicted defendants have demanding jobs that require a considerable amount of their time and energy, or a significant amount of travel. The Speedy Trial Act contemplates no such factor as a basis for a continuance, and the Court should not indulge it here." Yeah, motherfuckers, everyone's got shit to do and would rather do that than go on trial for something that could put them in prison for years.
more...
https://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2023/07/one-reason-for-speedy-trial-for-trump.html
July 16, 2023
Did Trump Let 500,000 Americans Die Purely for Political Purposes?
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 11:09:45a EDT
thomhartmann
Kentucky MAGA Republican James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been exposed as basically a con man with his phony Hunter Biden bribe witness. Now he is trying to rewrite the history of Trump and Covid.
snip//
And it’s the “why” Trump intentionally let a half million Americans die unnecessarily where our media, and the Democrats, are really missing the story.
April 7, 2020 was the day everything changed in America. And hardly anybody realizes it.
It was the day that caused Jared Kushner to decide that letting Black and Hispanic Americans in Blue states die of Covid — yes, intentionally using the force of law and social pressure to push people into death’s jaws — could become part of what he called “an effective political strategy” to help them win the 2020 election, and Donald Trump signed off on it.
The most unreported story of the pandemic, the one that seems destined to be overlooked as histories are being written, is what Trump did when he learned the Covid coronavirus was largely killing Black and Hispanic people and mostly sparing whites.
The moment he came to that realization he completely altered the US response to the pandemic, leading to the unnecessary death of 300,000 to 500,000 Americans.
Deaths that he and his advisors apparently believed (correctly) would be, outside of nursing home residents, disproportionately Black and Hispanic people.
more...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/14/2181174/-Did-Trump-Let-500-000-Americans-Die-Purely-for-Political-Purposes
Did Trump Let 500,000 Americans Die Purely for Political Purposes?
Did Trump Let 500,000 Americans Die Purely for Political Purposes?
Friday, July 14, 2023 at 11:09:45a EDT
thomhartmann
Kentucky MAGA Republican James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been exposed as basically a con man with his phony Hunter Biden bribe witness. Now he is trying to rewrite the history of Trump and Covid.
snip//
And it’s the “why” Trump intentionally let a half million Americans die unnecessarily where our media, and the Democrats, are really missing the story.
April 7, 2020 was the day everything changed in America. And hardly anybody realizes it.
It was the day that caused Jared Kushner to decide that letting Black and Hispanic Americans in Blue states die of Covid — yes, intentionally using the force of law and social pressure to push people into death’s jaws — could become part of what he called “an effective political strategy” to help them win the 2020 election, and Donald Trump signed off on it.
The most unreported story of the pandemic, the one that seems destined to be overlooked as histories are being written, is what Trump did when he learned the Covid coronavirus was largely killing Black and Hispanic people and mostly sparing whites.
The moment he came to that realization he completely altered the US response to the pandemic, leading to the unnecessary death of 300,000 to 500,000 Americans.
Deaths that he and his advisors apparently believed (correctly) would be, outside of nursing home residents, disproportionately Black and Hispanic people.
more...
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/14/2181174/-Did-Trump-Let-500-000-Americans-Die-Purely-for-Political-Purposes
July 15, 2023
ICYWW
Published by digby on July 15, 2023
Dems are winning swing voters
From Nate Cohn at the NY Times on the 2022 election. Yes, the Republicans turned out as they always do. But something else happened:
People don’t seem to like this answer for some reason, at least from what I gather on social media. Maybe it’s because they don’t like the idea of these swing voters having too much sway in the Democratic party. But honestly, I haven’t seen a lot of “let’s compromise on our values to win them over” stuff in the last three elections. I think the Democratic agenda is mainstream (and has been for a while) and they just didn’t see it until they realized how batshit crazy the Republicans had become.
ICYWW-Dems are winning swing voters
https://digbysblog.net/2023/07/15/icyww/ICYWW
Published by digby on July 15, 2023
Dems are winning swing voters
From Nate Cohn at the NY Times on the 2022 election. Yes, the Republicans turned out as they always do. But something else happened:
Ultimately, the Democratic performance depended on something that went far beyond turnout: A segment of swing voters decided to back Democratic candidates in many critical races.
For all the talk about turnout, this is what distinguished the 2022 midterms from any other in recent memory. Looking back over 15 years, the party out of power has typically won independent voters by an average margin of 14 points, as a crucial segment of voters either has soured on the president or has acted as a check against the excesses of the party in power.
This did not happen in 2022. Every major study — the exit polls, the AP/VoteCast study, the recent Pew study — showed Democrats narrowly won self-identified independent voters, despite an unfavorable national political environment and an older, whiter group of independent voters. A post-election analysis of Times/Siena surveys adjusted to match the final vote count and the validated electorate shows the same thing. It took the Democratic resilience among swing voters together with the Democratic resilience in turnout, especially in the Northern battlegrounds, to nearly allow Democrats to hold the U.S. House.
In many crucial states, Democratic candidates for Senate and governor often outright excelled among swing voters, plainly winning over a sliver of voters who probably backed Mr. Trump for president in 2020 and certainly supported Republican candidates for U.S. House in 2022. This was most pronounced in the states where Republicans nominated stop-the-steal candidates or where the abortion issue was prominent, like Michigan.
Democratic strength among swing voters in key states allowed the party to overcome an important turnout disadvantage in states like Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. That strength turned Pennsylvania and Michigan into landslides. And it ensured that the 2022 midterm election would not go down as an easy Republican victory, despite their takeover of the House, but would instead seem like a setback for conservatives.
For all the talk about turnout, this is what distinguished the 2022 midterms from any other in recent memory. Looking back over 15 years, the party out of power has typically won independent voters by an average margin of 14 points, as a crucial segment of voters either has soured on the president or has acted as a check against the excesses of the party in power.
This did not happen in 2022. Every major study — the exit polls, the AP/VoteCast study, the recent Pew study — showed Democrats narrowly won self-identified independent voters, despite an unfavorable national political environment and an older, whiter group of independent voters. A post-election analysis of Times/Siena surveys adjusted to match the final vote count and the validated electorate shows the same thing. It took the Democratic resilience among swing voters together with the Democratic resilience in turnout, especially in the Northern battlegrounds, to nearly allow Democrats to hold the U.S. House.
In many crucial states, Democratic candidates for Senate and governor often outright excelled among swing voters, plainly winning over a sliver of voters who probably backed Mr. Trump for president in 2020 and certainly supported Republican candidates for U.S. House in 2022. This was most pronounced in the states where Republicans nominated stop-the-steal candidates or where the abortion issue was prominent, like Michigan.
Democratic strength among swing voters in key states allowed the party to overcome an important turnout disadvantage in states like Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. That strength turned Pennsylvania and Michigan into landslides. And it ensured that the 2022 midterm election would not go down as an easy Republican victory, despite their takeover of the House, but would instead seem like a setback for conservatives.
People don’t seem to like this answer for some reason, at least from what I gather on social media. Maybe it’s because they don’t like the idea of these swing voters having too much sway in the Democratic party. But honestly, I haven’t seen a lot of “let’s compromise on our values to win them over” stuff in the last three elections. I think the Democratic agenda is mainstream (and has been for a while) and they just didn’t see it until they realized how batshit crazy the Republicans had become.
July 14, 2023
Republicans Look to Give Themselves a Pay Raise After Securing Benefit Cuts for the Poor
"This is outrageous," said one critic. "Democrats should raise hell over this."
Jake Johnson
Jul 13, 2023
After taking the global economy hostage to secure painful cuts to aid programs and other federal spending, House Republicans are proposing a pay raise for themselves and other members of Congress for the coming fiscal year.
Roll Call reported Thursday that under spending legislation approved by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee last month, members of Congress "would stand to receive a 4.6%, or $8,000, pay increase" in 2024. Most members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $174,000, putting them in the top 10% of U.S. earners.
"Lawmakers last received a cost-of-living increase in 2009," the outlet noted, "but House Republicans left out the traditional language blocking a cost-of-living increase for members from this year's Legislative Branch bill."
House Legislative Branch Appropriations Chairman Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) told Roll Call that it is "not exactly greedy" to pursue a pay raise for lawmakers after more than a decade of no cost-of-living increase, but he acknowledged the optics are horrible.
snip//
Colin Seeberger, senior communications adviser at the Center for American Progress Action, urged congressional Democrats to "raise hell over this."
more...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/house-republicans-raise
Republicans Look to Give Themselves a Pay Raise After Securing Benefit Cuts for the Poor
Republicans Look to Give Themselves a Pay Raise After Securing Benefit Cuts for the Poor
"This is outrageous," said one critic. "Democrats should raise hell over this."
Jake Johnson
Jul 13, 2023
After taking the global economy hostage to secure painful cuts to aid programs and other federal spending, House Republicans are proposing a pay raise for themselves and other members of Congress for the coming fiscal year.
Roll Call reported Thursday that under spending legislation approved by the Republican-controlled House Appropriations Committee last month, members of Congress "would stand to receive a 4.6%, or $8,000, pay increase" in 2024. Most members of Congress currently make an annual salary of $174,000, putting them in the top 10% of U.S. earners.
"Lawmakers last received a cost-of-living increase in 2009," the outlet noted, "but House Republicans left out the traditional language blocking a cost-of-living increase for members from this year's Legislative Branch bill."
House Legislative Branch Appropriations Chairman Mark Amodei (R-Nev.) told Roll Call that it is "not exactly greedy" to pursue a pay raise for lawmakers after more than a decade of no cost-of-living increase, but he acknowledged the optics are horrible.
snip//
Colin Seeberger, senior communications adviser at the Center for American Progress Action, urged congressional Democrats to "raise hell over this."
"This is outrageous," Seeberger wrote on Twitter. "House Republicans are moving to give themselves a raise while taking an ax to education, health, and other essential programs that help grow the economy by growing the middle class."
more...
https://www.commondreams.org/news/house-republicans-raise
July 14, 2023
Levin Report
Bob Iger and Ron DeSantis Won’t Be Taking a Ride on Space Mountain Together Any Time Soon
The Disney CEO tore the Florida governor a new one on Wednesday.
By Bess Levin
July 13, 2023
Last month, as part of his ongoing war against the largest employer in central Florida, governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said at a town hall, of Disney: “We’ve put this company on a pedestal…in the past it has been like the all-American company. But they’ve really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the programming for the young kids. And that is just a line that I am not willing to cross.” That was obviously a wild, baseless claim to make and, unsurprisingly, the CEO of Walt Disney Co. wasn’t thrilled about it—to say the least.
Speaking to CNBC from Sun Valley, Idaho, on Wednesday, Bob Iger told David Faber, “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing our children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate.”
DeSantis’s comments, and Iger’s response, come as the Florida governor’s feud with the company* approaches the 18th-month mark. As a reminder, that feud began when DeSantis, with the support of Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature, stripped Disney of its special self-governing status last year, in what was seen as as retribution for the company’s decision to speak out against the wildly bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney had said the law “could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary and transgender kids and families.” (Indeed, it has.) This past April, Iger called DeSantis “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” Later, DeSantis publicly mused about building a prison complex next to the park and raising its taxes. Not long after, the company sued the governor and accused him of waging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation,” adding: “Disney regrets that it has come to this. But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
DeSantis’s fight against Disney is, of course, part of his larger right-wing culture war that he apparently believes will catapult him to the White House. That war has included signing not just the “Don’t Say Gay” law but other anti-LGBTQ+ laws, like one that criminalizes using a bathroom that does not correspond to one’s assigned sex at birth (the crime would be trespassing) and another that prohibits doctors from offering gender-affirming care to minors, even if they have their parents’ permission. (The law out of the “free state of Florida” also gives Florida courts the power to interfere when minors go out of state for treatment.)
*Here we are morally obligated to remind people of the incredible fact that Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, got married at Disney World. As he wrote in his memoir: “Casey’s family was what one might call a family of Disney enthusiasts. They loved going to Disney World. Being the dutiful groom, I deferred to her.” DeSantis, though, had one requirement: “My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding. I wanted our special day to look and feel like a traditional wedding. I didn’t want Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck in our wedding photos.”)
Bob Iger and Ron DeSantis Won't Be Taking a Ride on Space Mountain Together Any Time Soon
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2023/07/ron-desantis-bob-iger-disneyLevin Report
Bob Iger and Ron DeSantis Won’t Be Taking a Ride on Space Mountain Together Any Time Soon
The Disney CEO tore the Florida governor a new one on Wednesday.
By Bess Levin
July 13, 2023
Last month, as part of his ongoing war against the largest employer in central Florida, governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said at a town hall, of Disney: “We’ve put this company on a pedestal…in the past it has been like the all-American company. But they’ve really embraced the idea of getting the sexualized content in the programming for the young kids. And that is just a line that I am not willing to cross.” That was obviously a wild, baseless claim to make and, unsurprisingly, the CEO of Walt Disney Co. wasn’t thrilled about it—to say the least.
Speaking to CNBC from Sun Valley, Idaho, on Wednesday, Bob Iger told David Faber, “The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing our children, quite frankly, is preposterous and inaccurate.”
DeSantis’s comments, and Iger’s response, come as the Florida governor’s feud with the company* approaches the 18th-month mark. As a reminder, that feud began when DeSantis, with the support of Florida’s GOP-controlled legislature, stripped Disney of its special self-governing status last year, in what was seen as as retribution for the company’s decision to speak out against the wildly bigoted “Don’t Say Gay” law. Disney had said the law “could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, nonbinary and transgender kids and families.” (Indeed, it has.) This past April, Iger called DeSantis “anti-business” and “anti-Florida.” Later, DeSantis publicly mused about building a prison complex next to the park and raising its taxes. Not long after, the company sued the governor and accused him of waging a “targeted campaign of government retaliation,” adding: “Disney regrets that it has come to this. But having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the Company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint unpopular with certain State officials.”
DeSantis’s fight against Disney is, of course, part of his larger right-wing culture war that he apparently believes will catapult him to the White House. That war has included signing not just the “Don’t Say Gay” law but other anti-LGBTQ+ laws, like one that criminalizes using a bathroom that does not correspond to one’s assigned sex at birth (the crime would be trespassing) and another that prohibits doctors from offering gender-affirming care to minors, even if they have their parents’ permission. (The law out of the “free state of Florida” also gives Florida courts the power to interfere when minors go out of state for treatment.)
*Here we are morally obligated to remind people of the incredible fact that Ron DeSantis and his wife, Casey DeSantis, got married at Disney World. As he wrote in his memoir: “Casey’s family was what one might call a family of Disney enthusiasts. They loved going to Disney World. Being the dutiful groom, I deferred to her.” DeSantis, though, had one requirement: “My only condition was that no Disney characters could be part of our wedding. I wanted our special day to look and feel like a traditional wedding. I didn’t want Mickey Mouse or Donald Duck in our wedding photos.”)
July 11, 2023
The stench of corruption grows around the Supreme Court
Monday, July 10, 2023 at 5:10:19p EDT
Joan McCarter
There’s blood in the water around the Supreme Court now and investigative journalists are swarming, finding all the fodder they need for a scandal in the form of Justice Clarence Thomas alone. The latest addition to the Thomas corruption chronicles is The New York Times’ exposé on his long-standing membership in the Horatio Alger Association, one that netted him a whole new raft of generous, wealthy friends spending lavishly to provide him a luxurious lifestyle. As the circle of Thomas’ rich and powerful associates grows, so grows the likelihood of conflicts of interest for him on the court and the likelihood the media will be able to dig them up. Each new discovery will only deepen the crisis in the court and generate more momentum for reform.
snip//
The appearance of corruption on the court from Thomas alone is enough to spur calls for reform. Justice Samuel Alito has ethical questions of his own given that his wealthy benefactors definitely have regular business before the court. Add in the obvious partisan politics of the majority, and you have to wonder what the hell is wrong with Chief Justice John Roberts, letting all this continue on his watch.
It’s gotten so blatant that groups on the left that have been afraid to take on the court before, fearing blowback when they go before it, are joining together to demand court reform. Organizations and labor unions including Planned Parenthood, SEIU, AFT, NEA, and NARAL have created a coalition called United for Democracy specifically to push court reform. They are also demanding formal congressional investigations and hearings into Supreme Court corruption.
“Every time this Supreme Court issues another extremist decision, the Court loses legitimacy, judicial norms wither, our freedoms shrink, corporate power grows, our democracy fades—and the American people pay the price,” the coalition said in a letter to congressional leaders. In the wake of recent revelations of egregious impropriety by justices and this latest disastrous Supreme Court term, Congress must step up to conduct robust investigations and coordinated formal hearings into corruption, dark money, and interest-driven judicial activism at the Supreme Court in order to inform legislative action to bring true transparency and accountability to this broken court.
We’re at a breaking point for the court. The media sees a very rich target for stories, and they’re not going to stop looking now. There will be more revelations about what they’re getting up to. Confidence in the court will continue to plummet as the stories are published and the ramifications of the court’s extremist decisions ripple outward.
Should the trifecta be restored in 2025, a Democratic Congress and president are not going to have a choice on court reform. It’s case closed. And they had better start getting ready for it now.
The stench of corruption grows around the Supreme Court
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/7/10/2180310/-The-stench-of-corruption-grows-around-the-Supreme-CourtThe stench of corruption grows around the Supreme Court
Monday, July 10, 2023 at 5:10:19p EDT
Joan McCarter
There’s blood in the water around the Supreme Court now and investigative journalists are swarming, finding all the fodder they need for a scandal in the form of Justice Clarence Thomas alone. The latest addition to the Thomas corruption chronicles is The New York Times’ exposé on his long-standing membership in the Horatio Alger Association, one that netted him a whole new raft of generous, wealthy friends spending lavishly to provide him a luxurious lifestyle. As the circle of Thomas’ rich and powerful associates grows, so grows the likelihood of conflicts of interest for him on the court and the likelihood the media will be able to dig them up. Each new discovery will only deepen the crisis in the court and generate more momentum for reform.
snip//
The appearance of corruption on the court from Thomas alone is enough to spur calls for reform. Justice Samuel Alito has ethical questions of his own given that his wealthy benefactors definitely have regular business before the court. Add in the obvious partisan politics of the majority, and you have to wonder what the hell is wrong with Chief Justice John Roberts, letting all this continue on his watch.
It’s gotten so blatant that groups on the left that have been afraid to take on the court before, fearing blowback when they go before it, are joining together to demand court reform. Organizations and labor unions including Planned Parenthood, SEIU, AFT, NEA, and NARAL have created a coalition called United for Democracy specifically to push court reform. They are also demanding formal congressional investigations and hearings into Supreme Court corruption.
“Every time this Supreme Court issues another extremist decision, the Court loses legitimacy, judicial norms wither, our freedoms shrink, corporate power grows, our democracy fades—and the American people pay the price,” the coalition said in a letter to congressional leaders. In the wake of recent revelations of egregious impropriety by justices and this latest disastrous Supreme Court term, Congress must step up to conduct robust investigations and coordinated formal hearings into corruption, dark money, and interest-driven judicial activism at the Supreme Court in order to inform legislative action to bring true transparency and accountability to this broken court.
We’re at a breaking point for the court. The media sees a very rich target for stories, and they’re not going to stop looking now. There will be more revelations about what they’re getting up to. Confidence in the court will continue to plummet as the stories are published and the ramifications of the court’s extremist decisions ripple outward.
Should the trifecta be restored in 2025, a Democratic Congress and president are not going to have a choice on court reform. It’s case closed. And they had better start getting ready for it now.
July 10, 2023
https://politicalwire.com/2023/07/10/biden-is-resetting-the-ethical-norms-trump-trampled/
Biden Is Resetting the Ethical Norms Trump Trampled
July 10, 2023 at 7:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
Biden Is Resetting the Ethical Norms Trump Trampled
https://politicalwire.com/2023/07/10/biden-is-resetting-the-ethical-norms-trump-trampled/
Biden Is Resetting the Ethical Norms Trump Trampled
July 10, 2023 at 7:39 am EDT By Taegan Goddard
“There has long been an expectation that the American President will use the power of the office—and the big white house and the large two-tone plane that comes with it—to do the work of governing the country, and not as props to advance personal political goals,” Time reports.
“Donald Trump blew through those expectations. He rolled Air Force One up to stump speeches at airports while running for reelection. He displayed no concern as members of his administration repeatedly engaged in blatantly partisan activity in the course of their work. And most famously, he moved the Republican National Convention to the backyard of the White House in August 2020, accepting his party’s nomination with the iconic columns of the mansion’s South Portico behind him.”
“In the two and a half years President Joe Biden has been in office, he’s worked to reset the guardrails against such abuses of power. Biden has told aides he doesn’t want to ever be seen using the White House to further his reelection.”
“Donald Trump blew through those expectations. He rolled Air Force One up to stump speeches at airports while running for reelection. He displayed no concern as members of his administration repeatedly engaged in blatantly partisan activity in the course of their work. And most famously, he moved the Republican National Convention to the backyard of the White House in August 2020, accepting his party’s nomination with the iconic columns of the mansion’s South Portico behind him.”
“In the two and a half years President Joe Biden has been in office, he’s worked to reset the guardrails against such abuses of power. Biden has told aides he doesn’t want to ever be seen using the White House to further his reelection.”
July 10, 2023
MSNBC Panel Declares Casey DeSantis ‘America’s Karen’
FIGHTING WORDS
The label prompted a round of laughs from fellow panelists, as well as host Jonathan Capehart.
Brett Bachman
Night Editor
Published Jul. 09, 2023 8:11PM EDT
An MSNBC panel had some strong words for Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis.
An MSNBC panel had some strong words for Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis, over the weekend—with one guest going so far as to dub her “America’s Karen.”
As the charismatic wife to a reportedly uncharismatic presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, Casey has become a national figure off her attempts to soften her husband’s hardline far-right campaign. But those attempts can’t change the basis of hate the couple’s shared political project rests upon, according to former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who represented DeSantis’ home state of Florida from 2014 to 2017.
He went on to say that DeSantis’ zero-sum, scorched earth culture war campaign is a losing message—and that no amount of charisma can make up for the couple’s lack of a positive message about the future of the country they’d like to govern.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-panel-declares-casey-desantis-americas-karen?ref=home?ref=home
MSNBC Panel Declares Casey DeSantis 'America's Karen'
MSNBC Panel Declares Casey DeSantis ‘America’s Karen’
FIGHTING WORDS
The label prompted a round of laughs from fellow panelists, as well as host Jonathan Capehart.
Brett Bachman
Night Editor
Published Jul. 09, 2023 8:11PM EDT
An MSNBC panel had some strong words for Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis.
An MSNBC panel had some strong words for Florida’s First Lady, Casey DeSantis, over the weekend—with one guest going so far as to dub her “America’s Karen.”
As the charismatic wife to a reportedly uncharismatic presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, Casey has become a national figure off her attempts to soften her husband’s hardline far-right campaign. But those attempts can’t change the basis of hate the couple’s shared political project rests upon, according to former Republican Rep. David Jolly, who represented DeSantis’ home state of Florida from 2014 to 2017.
“For some, she’s become the brighter side to Florida’s angry governor,” Jolly said on MSNBC’s The Saturday Show With Jonathan Capehart. “For many others, she’s become America’s Karen.”
He went on to say that DeSantis’ zero-sum, scorched earth culture war campaign is a losing message—and that no amount of charisma can make up for the couple’s lack of a positive message about the future of the country they’d like to govern.
more...
https://www.thedailybeast.com/msnbc-panel-declares-casey-desantis-americas-karen?ref=home?ref=home
July 9, 2023
My twin sister died yesterday.
She fought like hell but she was no match for a very aggressive bone cancer, metastasized from stage 4 breast cancer. She had a few good years before the tumors started growing in her bones, first her legs and finally her neck where a bone actually fractured.
She was in agony the past 4 months and docs couldn't seem to be able to gauge her pain and prescribe something to make her comfortable. She told me she just wanted to die in her sleep, so she did.
Jane had a total of 2.5 days in hospice, her lovely husband took care of her at home the rest of the time until he couldn't any longer.
She was more than ready, and I am so thankful she is no longer in pain, but I will miss her the rest of my life.
#FUCKCANCER
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