Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

The GOP couldn’t organize an orgy in a whorehouse with a fist full of 50s.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

Battle won, war still ongoing.

A thin legal pretext to veneer over their personal religious and political desires

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Usually wrong but never in doubt

Republicans do not pay their debts.

Republicans in disarray!

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

You are here: Home / 2021 / Archives for September 2021

Archives for September 2021

Free Law Project Creates the First Online Database of Federal Judicial Financial Disclosures

by | 66 Comments

This post is in: , , ,

Here’s some good news for a change.  Really happy to see this!

Okay, not the part about the  13  131 (!) federal judges who broke the law by ruling in cases where they had a conflict of interest.

Free Law Project Creates the First Online Database of Federal Judicial Financial Disclosures

show full post on front page

Free Law Project Creates the First Online Database of Federal Judicial Financial DisclosuresPost + Comments (66)

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Readership Capture

by | 135 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Elsewhere — Big props to my junior senator, and also Sen. Tina Smith:

… “Republicans stole the Court’s majority, with Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s confirmation completing their crime spree,” said Senator Markey. “Of all the damage Donald Trump did to our Constitution, this stands as one of his greatest travesties. Senate Republicans have politicized the Supreme Court, undermined its legitimacy, and threatened the rights of millions of Americans, especially people of color, women, and our immigrant communities. This legislation will restore the Court’s balance and public standing and begin to repair the damage done to our judiciary and democracy, and we should abolish the filibuster to ensure we can pass it. I thank Chairman Nadler, and Reps. Johnson and Jones for their partnership on this legislation that will ensure the Supreme Court reflects the value of equal justice under law, not politics.”

“Nine justices may have made sense in the nineteenth century when there were only nine circuits, and many of our most important federal laws—covering everything from civil rights, to antitrust, the internet, financial regulation, health care, immigration, and white collar crime—simply did not exist, and did not require adjudication by the Supreme Court,” said Chairman Nadler. “But the logic behind having only nine justices is much weaker today, when there are 13 circuits. Thirteen justices for thirteen circuits is a sensible progression, and I am pleased to join my colleagues in introducing the Judiciary Act of 2021.”…

The number of justices that sit on the Supreme Court is set by a simple act of Congress, and it can be changed the same way, without requiring a constitutional amendment. Congress has adjusted the size of the court seven times throughout its history, ranging from six to ten justices and establishing a substantial historical precedent for the legislation…

Wednesday Morning Open Thread: Readership CapturePost + Comments (135)

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Sept. 28-29

by | 36 Comments

This post is in: ,

show full post on front page

COVID-19 Coronavirus Updates: Tuesday / Wednesday, Sept. 28-29Post + Comments (36)

On The Road – frosty – Zion National Park – Zion Canyon

by | 9 Comments

This post is in: ,

frosty

Zion Nation Park:  Southern Utah. We were based in St George UT.

Continuing our travel theme of not doing anything that requires waiting in lines*, we got to see the main canyon despite the crowds and the sold-out shuttle buses. We unfolded our eBikes and headed up the road. The trip from the visitor center to the end of the canyon scenic drive was just under eight miles, and we covered the round trip with stops, and with a hike, in three hours. While Kolob Canyon was impressive in its own way, there’s nothing like being in the bottom of a canyon like this looking up at the sheer rock walls. As it turned out, we spent three days in Zion, when it wasn’t even in our trip itinerary to begin with.

*this goes back at least to 2014 when we bailed on seeing the Crown Jewels at the Tower of London.

On The Road – frosty – Zion National Park – Zion CanyonPost + Comments (9)

On The Road - frosty - Zion National Park - Zion Canyon 7
Zion National ParkMay 17, 2021

Alternative transportation. We weren’t the only ones with pedal assist – about 80% of the bikes we saw were eBikes. This is a great way to see the canyon if you’re not planning to take one of the long hikes.

Last year the Park Service legalized the use of eBikes on park roads, with the caveat that they have to be Class 1: No throttle, and pedal assist limited to 20mph. I have never seen a Class 1 bike for sale anywhere! Every one I know of has a thumb throttle which runs the motor without pedaling, which is a Class 2 or 3.

Late Night Open Thread: No Man Is A Hero to His Press Secretary

by | 138 Comments

This post is in: ,

Especially not the Nekkid Emperor of Marred-A-Lago:

Little is known about what happened in the 90-minute conversation between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Osaka, Japan, two years ago. But as journalists were quickly ushered out of the room at the 2019 Group of 20 Summit, Stephanie Grisham once again found herself with a close-up view of the action.

She saw Trump lean toward Putin that day and tell him: “Okay, I’m going to act a little tougher with you for a few minutes. But it’s for the cameras, and after they leave, we’ll talk. You understand.”

It’s just one of many telling interactions detailed by Grisham in her new book, titled “I’ll Take Your Questions Now.” One of the most senior and longest-serving Trump advisers, she worked as the president’s third press secretary and as first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff and communications director before she resigned on Jan. 6 during the Capitol riot…

A major theme of the book is the culture of lies that pervaded Trump’s administration. “Casual dishonesty filtered through the White House as if it were in the air conditioning system,” Grisham writes…

She is particularly negative about the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner — both of whom held senior White House positions. She wrote that the first lady and White House staff called Ivanka “the Princess” who regularly invoked “my father” in work meetings, and Grisham dubbed Kushner “the Slim Reaper” for his habit of inserting himself into other people’s projects, making a mess and leaving them to take the blame.

show full post on front page

Late Night Open Thread: No Man Is A Hero to His Press SecretaryPost + Comments (138)

Excellent Read: “A vaccine mandate fractures a state fair…”

by | 90 Comments

This post is in: ,

The tweet, and the full headline, could’ve been improved, but IMO this is an example of Doing Pandemic Reporting Well:

ALBUQUERQUE — Down from the New Mexico State Fair’s glittery midway, and past the stands selling funnel cakes and turkey legs, the barns that are typically packed with animals entered in the state’s premier youth livestock contest were quiet. Resting in pens were a sleepy pig and a few sheep there only for display, not awards.

About 200 miles southeast, hundreds of children instead gathered at a fairground with no rides and few spectators to show more than a thousand cows, pigs, sheep and goats in open-sided barns. It was an alternative livestock show quickly thrown together after families decided to boycott the state fair over a requirement that everyone over age 12 show proof of coronavirus vaccination, test or exemption to enter…

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) announced the mandate for the state fair three weeks before its opening day amid a delta-driven surge in hospitalizations.

Although the reliably blue state has one of the nation’s highest vaccination rates, many of the youths who show livestock at the fair come from rural areas where rates are lower. When the state fair surveyed their families after the mandate was announced, the majority said they would not attend. New Mexico Republicans and the state cattle growers’ association called on the governor to rescind the mandate, saying it gave too little time for the unvaccinated to get shots, and one parent sued. A federal judge rejected the lawsuit.

“Vaccines have been available to New Mexicans at large since at least May,” Tripp Stelnicki, a spokesman for Lujan Grisham, said in an email. “To suppose that there was not ‘enough time’ — when that is not true — is to grant undue deference to those who for months have been refusing safe and effective vaccines and who are consequently prolonging this pandemic and endangering the lives and livelihoods of everyone in our state.”

The mandate, meanwhile, scrambled fair planning, general manager Dan Mourning said. The fair hired a consultant to train screeners to check vaccination cards and enlisted Navy ROTC members to help. It also contacted hundreds of vendors to ensure they were eligible to participate in the fair, with some dropping out at the news of the mandate.

With about a week to go, the fair canceled the livestock show and offered refunds to 425 people, ages 9 to 18, who had signed up to exhibit…

show full post on front page

Excellent Read: “A vaccine mandate fractures a state fair…”Post + Comments (90)

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Hold A Good Thought…

by | 105 Comments

This post is in: , ,

Breakthru Covid is no joke! Got a note from Satby:

Jackal zzyzx needs some good thoughts. Can a mention be made in an open thread?

Tuesday Evening Open Thread: Hold A Good Thought…Post + Comments (105)