It’s amusing that Crooked Clarence Thomas allies feel obligated to defend his (nonexistent) honor — they’re feeling the heat. Via TPM reporter Nicole Lafond:
Fox News published a piece this Tuesday afternoon reporting that more than 100 of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ former clerks had signed onto a letter defending the justice’s “integrity” and “independence.” The signatories argued that recent media reports on him unethically accepting luxurious gifts from billionaire donors and people with business before the high court are simply all “part of larger attack on the Court” and its “legitimacy.”
High profile circuit court judges like David Stras of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, Jim Ho of the 5th Circuit and Allison Rushing of the 4th (all Trump appointees) count themselves among the 112 signees.
And so does John Eastman.
You’re damn right it’s a larger indictment of the Leo Court and its “legitimacy.” Also, Eastman doesn’t seem to grasp his change in status from tweedy fash-curious law professor to multiply indicted criminal defendant on the verge of disbarment.
Lafond notes that Eastman keeps popping up in the media “during a time when it would behoove him to keep quiet.” As we discussed here recently, Eastman gave an interview to a Claremont Institute colleague a while back and basically confessed to trying to overthrow the duly elected government.
This week, he was scheduled to appear on Laura Ingraham’s White Power Hour. I didn’t watch it, but it’s hard to imagine him helping his case in that venue. Keep talking, Eastman. Keep talking.
As for Crooked Clarence, I’ll repurpose a famous Emerson quote: “The louder he talked of his honor, the faster we counted his wingnut billionaire-funded vacations and gifts.”
Open thread!
rikyrah
Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) posted at 10:46 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
NEW: A federal judge has ruled that Rudy GIULIANI is liable for defaming Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss — and that he flagrantly violated repeated court orders to preserve and produce evidence in the case.
Details w/ @joshgerstein
Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) posted at 9:45 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
NEWS: Judge grants default judgment to Ruby FREEMAN and Shaye MOSS in defamation lawsuit against Rudy Giuliani and grants punitive sanctions as well. Details TK
Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) posted at 9:51 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
HOWELL is, as usual, deeply cutting, accusing Giuliani of intentionally violating process:
“Donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery.”
(https://twitter.com/kyledcheney/status/1696898510065377721?t=9V4pfo3TDXO41_Me5GkYWg&s=03)
Alison Rose
The dude protests too much, methinks. (O, but he WON’T keep his word, in this case.)
Alison Rose
@rikyrah: I hope they bleed him dry.
rikyrah
Jeffro,
You wrote this in the last thread:
I told you that it didn’t matter if it was Dolt45 or any others. That nobody had disavowed this, and that this was the REPUBLICAN PLAN.
Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) posted at 9:03 PM on Tue, Aug 29, 2023:
Here’s the link to the full piece in case you’re interested. https://t.co/wMoRTN1yvI
(https://twitter.com/jkarsh/status/1696705183873679754?t=cIQc37tDLNv3_L2qX4uj-Q&s=03)
rikyrah
The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) posted at 11:16 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
A judge ruled that Peter Navarro, a Trump White House adviser charged with criminal contempt of Congress, cannot argue to a jury that he was barred by executive privilege from providing testimony and documents to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the…
The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) posted at 11:16 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
Navarro, who has written and spoken extensively about his role in efforts to reverse former president Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat, is set to go on trial in the contempt case next week in U.S. District Court in Washington. https://t.co/KDxaTbJPp5
(https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1696919835198857619?t=wQluaMeFE-CVgV-zZfcWJg&s=03)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Yeah, ProPublica is sure full of hacks 🙄
Also, the Roberts Court lost all legitimacy with Dobbs last year
RedDirtGirl
I saw a clip of the Laura Ingraham appearance, and when he mentioned all the proof of election fraud he had, the she-wolf replied “I’ve yet to see it”. I was kind of surprised.
scav
O. Well. A lot of inexplicably prosperous family members in Sicily have all vouchsafed that the Mafia are completely misunderstood and thoroughly good and cuddly chaps. Got it.
Betty Cracker
DeSantis is enjoying earned media on CNN at the moment, droning on about the hurricane. He’s still trying to pitch his voice to a lower register as the alleged GOP debate guru advised, but he forgets sometimes and resumes the usual mosquito-whine tone.
SiubhanDuinne
Funnily enough, I was just over at Wonkette mere seconds before I returned here, and what is their lead story at the moment but a report on Eastman’s appearance last night on Laura Ingraham’s show. And you’re right, he didn’t help his case at all, not one little itty tiny bit.
rikyrah
I’m gonna say this again:
This is not our problem.
Maggie is screaming because she misses being a stenographer, and so do her cohorts. President 46 and the competency of his Administration is the worst thing ever for dear Mags.
I’m waiting for them to start blaming Democrats for who REPUBLICAN BASE VOTERS choose.
Not our business, if the rest of the clown car can’t get their voters out in the GOP Primary. Not our business. Not our problem.
They knew who that man was when they voted for him the first time. Nobody has hidden the charges against him. If they vote for him again, not our business.
Tommy moderna-vaX-Topher (@tommyxtopher) posted at 10:50 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
Maggie Haberman Sounds Alarm For GOP — Trump Could Be Nominee Before Republicans ‘Know If He’s a Felon’
Hope Restored In DFW (@Kennymack1971) posted at 11:07 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
This isn’t the GOPs real problem.
The real problem is that none of the other sad sacks running or anyone else the media has in the bullpen will excite Republican primary voters enough to leave or forsake Trump regardless of his legal situation.
(https://twitter.com/Kennymack1971/status/1696917501173473719?t=EahtPWoMt8sovQrixFLWSA&s=03)
wjca
It becomes ever more obvious that he and TIFG are soulmates. “Admission against interest” seems to be just what they do.
SiubhanDuinne
@Betty Cracker:
But he’s not doing The Laugh, is he? Please tell me he’s not doing The Laugh.
Also, for the fashionistas amongst the Jackaltariat, perhaps you could describe Casey’s choice of hurricane-appropriate ball gowns and cocktail frocks.
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker: Hilarious. Also too, my issue was always the opposite. My natural speaking voice is slightly low for a woman, and also just sounds inherently sarcastic (I blame that on having a mother born and raised in Brooklyn). I’ve described my voice as the verbal equivalent of resting bitch face. So at past jobs where I had to talk to clients or customers, or in the halcyon days when I used to go places and I needed to ask a favor (like needing a tall person to get something for me in a store), I would always pitch my voice up about half an octave and make it a little bit breathier so I didn’t sound like I was about to tell them to fuck off.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Betty Cracker:
Was there any bad flooding/winds where you live in FL?
Burnspbesq
Eastman will be a former lawyer soon enough.
Old School
Hmmm… I thought the latest “attack” was over failure to disclose gifts.
Hoodie
Eastman is a piece of work but, ultimately, he’s aging, boring loon with zero talent. Watching Idalia just graze by our other home in SE Ga, feels to me like we’ve been similarly watching a fascist hurricane approaching this country, all waiting in a semi-paralyzed state to see if it blows everything away. Part of the problem is we’re saturated by a talentless media that tries to entertain us with these nuts because they’re incapable of doing anything else to fill the vast bandwidth devoted to entertainment. I was watching coverage of Idalia from Jacksonville. There was essentially nothing happening but they tried to infuse it with maximum drama. They cut to some poor schmuck junior reporter, who breathlessly reported from St. Simons Island about the “wind gusts topping 20 miles per hour!” With regard to Trump and his cronies and hangers on like that twerp Ramaswamy, they fixate on them just like a hurricane, obsessively tracking their every movement instead of dismissing them as the lunatics and obvious con men they actually are. It was disgusting to watch the breathless coverage of Trump’s plane on terminal approach to Hartsfield-Jackson and the subsequent police-led motorcade to the Fulton County jail. All of the cable networks devoted hours to this bullshit. I am so sick of Trump and his ridiculous theater.
Burnspbesq
If she were still around, I imagine Susan Bayh, who was the prototype of the brilliant, gorgeous woman who married a political schlub (and who, at least in her law school days, had a reputation for being subtly funny), would have something to say about Ms. DeSantis.
PPCLI
@RedDirtGirl:
“…the she-wolf replied “I’ve yet to see it”. I was kind of surprised.”
After the staggering sums of money that the Dominion lawsuit cost them, I imagine the memo went out even to Ingraham: distance yourself from anyone who wants to make factual claims about purported stolen election evidence.
Betty Cracker
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): We lucked out again! Some wind and rain, but nothing too scary, and no lasting power outages.
My relatives who are further inland but more in the path weren’t so lucky. One set of aunts and uncles had downed trees, damaged outbuildings and lost power because a tree squashed their lines. They live even further in the boonies than I do, so it may take a while to restore power.
The other set I haven’t heard from since last night, so I am worried about them. They’re probably fine, but I wish they’d call! Otherwise, I’ll have to go check on them in person, and I’d rather not drive in an area with significant damage.
Hoodie
He’s appeared to be pretty restrained. He’s probably glad to have a mass shooting and a hurricane to talk about rather than his usual nonsense. Ron might have been tolerable if he limited his ambitions to emergency response director for Liberty County.
JoyceH
@Alison Rose: I keep getting called “sir” on the telephone.
waspuppet
It’s remarkable that Trump’s ethos of “If you admit to a crime on live TV it can’t be used as evidence” has spread to his camp, including actual lawyers.
Nora
@Old School: No, actually they’re attacking him — a justice of the US Supreme Court — for refusing to follow the black letter law about disclosure. This HAS to be disingenuous on their part. They cannot actually be that stupid, can they? I mean, these guys went to law school (probably to Harvard or the like). They got jobs as clerks for a Supreme Court Justice. They had to have SOME knowledge of how the law works, right?
Burnspbesq
Technically OT but tangentially related:
ICYMI, Liz Dye connects the dots on Judge Cannon’s perfidy.
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/judge-aileen-cannon-trump-florida-documents-case?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Jeffro
@rikyrah: Yup, I saw it. Just had to do a little work while I’m at work =)
I mean, I hear you…is the point that I was being too trump-specific, when really most if not all of the GOP is on board with this nonsense? I know none of them are bashing him about it, but the Pences, Christies, Hutchinsons, and Haleys of the world are not on board.
Eventually, it’ll be on all of them to disavow this insanity, or risk losing even more badly w/ independents, etc.
Betty Cracker
@Hoodie: Did you catch how the DeSantis admin officials who gave also updates praised his glorious leadership as a preamble? It reminded me of Trump cabinet meetings — barf!
Adam L Silverman
@rikyrah: As I’ve been saying for I don’t know how long, this is a strategy of subversion.
Bupalos
It’s starting to feel like having people point out your wrongdoing is becoming an active part of the Republican Innocence Project. A kind of crime-laundering through hyper-partisanship.
Step 1: Do a crime
Step 2: Make enemies
Step 3: Get enemies to talk about your crime
Step 4: Substitute conflict with enemies for consideration of crime.
eclare
@Betty Cracker:
I noticed that! In the briefing that I saw only one official bothered to thank the federal govt, the Coast Guard officer.
rikyrah
@Betty Cracker:
Glad to hear that you and Casa BC are doing well.
Anonymous At Work
@Alison Rose: Nope. Guiliani was admitting for two purposes, only one about money. He has been dodging discovery and was facing (should still face) sanctions over that. He was also too broke to afford his attorneys through trial and appeals.
So, he picked to admit liability in order to argue damages, like Alex Jones did, and to appeal the ruling, without making public certain documents that might interest Jack Smith (presuming SCO doesn’t already have them).
The judge wouldn’t have been out of order to reject teh admission of liability since Giuliani was playing games with the court and trying to toe the line by admitting the minimum necessary to avoid the actual trial without avoiding other aspects of a lawsuit going to trial.
Anonymous At Work
Do we have an inmate/prisoner number for Eastman, so we can start substituting the number for the name?
Scout211
Trying to embed on my phone: It worked!
Liz Dye at Aaron Rupar’s place:
ETA: and Burnspbesq got there first.
trollhattan
A near-burb ponders leaning Jesusy. Some are not amused.
piratedan
well, I have to say that when “the purge” happens, it was nice of all of these judges to self-identify as being open to the “legality” of being bought when it comes to knowing who to boot off the judiciary.
scav
@eclare: I’ve been figuring for a while that they’re going to complain like a hot blue streak about FEMA not being quick or good enough and non-stop blaming Biden for the “shambles” (Where are the tossed paper towels!!) . Hawai’i was a mere appetizer.
Betty Cracker
My dogs rolled in mud and then came to the door to be let in. Fuck! Unscheduled bath time!
PPCLI
@Scout211: Shorter Judge Cannon: “Why should *you* get disqualified for a conflict *someone else* noticed.
eclare
@scav:
Yep, I’m afraid you’re right.
Elizabelle
@Burnspbesq: Will they be able to remove Cannon?
What an embarrassment to the legal profession.
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Water all over the place, and Baxter and Pete need to see more of it. With soap. Have fun.
Anyway
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Nah, the Roberts Court lost all legitimacy in 2013 with Shelby County v. Holder .
sdhays
@trollhattan: It’s fascinating that “Christ centered” anything rarely has anything to do with what Jesus did or what Jesus said. It typically boils down to ensuring everyone “believes” that Jesus is the Son of God, was crucified on the cross, and rose again 3 days later. And then cherry picked shit from the Old Testament, which is itself cherry picked.
sdhays
@Anyway: Did Citizens United come before or after Shelby? I thought it was before, but I’m too lazy to verify. Either way, money = speech was another destroyer of legitimacy for the Roberts Court.
JustRuss
@Old School: And no one’s taking aim at his marriage. They’re taking aim at his wife for being a right-wing traitorous loon. Being married to a SC justice doesn’t give you a pass for that, and yeah, she should be subjected to some scrutiny considering who she’s married to.
UncleEbeneezer
@rikyrah: We would do really well to all just accept the fact that there is no One Weird Trick™ to stop Trump from becoming POTUS again besides helping Biden win in 2024. It’s really that simple. And the faster we can come to grips with that and stop pinning our hopes on criminal convictions and 14th Amendment remedies (that are unlikely to work in swing states with Predominantly GOP courts).
lowtechcyclist
@JoyceH:
And I always get called ‘ma’am’ on the phone. I used to joke that if I had a stretch of unemployment, I could do phone sex for a living.
Alison Rose
@Betty Cracker: They just thought you needed a little more chaos in your life right now.
Burnspbesq
@Elizabelle:
if she does something egregious on the record—like, say, finding that Woodward doesn’t have any conflicts—that could get appealed. And if they are going to the Eleventh Circuit anyway, Smith’s office might suggest that reassigning the case would be appropriate. The downside, of course, is that if the Eleventh doesn’t agree, they will be proceeding in front of a very pissed-off judge.
Wapiti
@JoyceH: In the Army I had my heels locked up (as in, I was at the position of attention while getting the facts driven into my head by a senior officer) by a female lieutenant colonel with a deeper than average voice. I reflexively said ‘Yes, Sir!” Holy shit, that was a mistake.
smith
Just wanted to note that among the legal luminaries praising Clarence Thomas are prominent torture apologists John Yoo and Steven Bradbury, who still haven’t paid for their crimes.
BellaPea
Eastman must be, to quote from O Brother Where Art Thou: “Dumber than a bag of hammers.” Either that, or he is so blinded by right-wing ideology he actually thinks he’s done no wrong.
HumboldtBlue
Mitch McConnell is not well, not well at all.
Alison Rose
@lowtechcyclist: Two friends of mine, a lesbian couple, get a kick out of how people respond to their voices versus how they look. One is very petite and femme but has a low slightly hoarse voice, the other is tall and masc presenting but has a young-sounding lilting voice.
Mai Naem mobileI
@Alison Rose: i think all he’s going to have left is his pensions and that’s if he didn’t cash those out. I am assuming NY allows you to cash them out ??
Alison Rose
@HumboldtBlue: Jeez. I loathe the man, but this is just as hard to watch as the first time. Him and DiFi and all the others who want to stay in the job when they’re halfway into the beyond is aggravating and also disturbing.
Bill Arnold
@smith:
I’m sure they would argue that we are torturing poor innocent Clarence Thomas by calling him a corrupt partisan hack, and providing receipts.
And that this “torture” is bad
Mai Naem mobileI
@HumboldtBlue: jeezus. If he’s getting TIAs he’s just waiting for the big one. You can talk about DiFi but this guy’s in leadership.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Burnspbesq:
I don’t get why it’s even in question she should be removed. If a journalist can connect the dots of what Cannon is up to, why can’t appellate judges?
prostratedragon
@JoyceH: Has happened to me often since junior high days.
Josie
@Burnspbesq:
I can’t see that they would be any worse off than they are now. In fact, if they make her angry, she might make even more egregious mistakes.
Geminid
@HumboldtBlue: When people have the kind of injuries McConnell sustained this winter, they usually don’t bounce back much and often start sliding downhill. I have a hunch McConnell will not serve many more months.
I’m hoping he can hold on until next April though, and resign then. That would result in a Republican leadership fight in the middle of the primary season, and six months before the general election
Bill Arnold
@BellaPea:
It is this. (I have seen no evidence otherwise. Sometimes intelligent people are simply cranks, trapped in their own belief structures.)
trollhattan
@HumboldtBlue: His last firmware update did not complete. I say take him back to 1.0 and reinstall.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@HumboldtBlue: Wow. What kind of machinations do you think are going on among Senate Rs as they watch McConnell come to pieces?
Mr. Bemused Senior
Six of one, a half-dozen of the other.
trollhattan
@Dorothy A. Winsor: Trawling Kentucky looking for a 24YO conservative wonderboy and finagle getting him assigned to Mitch’s seat. Bonus: Rand Paul becomes the Senior Senator from Kentucky.
The fuque is wrong with that state?
Citizen Alan
@Anyway: The Roberts Court lost all legitimacy when Roberts himself was confirmed as Chief Justice after the Rehnquist Five stole the Presidency from Gore.
smith
@Geminid: The fall he suffered may very well have been caused by a stroke, so this slide could have been going on for a while.
Mai Naem mobileI
Aileen Cannon must have been a Clarence Thomas clerk since she doesn’t appear to understand the concept of conflict of interest.
BTW all these clerks signing this letter says just as much about them as it does Clarence Thomas.
RedDirtGirl
@HumboldtBlue: I think the next question should be “should we call an ambulance?” Christ, that’s disturbing.
Citizen Alan
@Burnspbesq: How could a “pissed off” Cannon be any worse than the “grossly unfit and ethically bankruptcy” Cannon we have now?
Citizen Alan
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): This is the second worst example I’ve ever seen of an out-of-control judge refusing to recuse themselves despite an obvious conflict of interest. The worst example I’ve ever seen was when Justice Chuck McRae ( refused to recuse himself from an appeal brought to the Mississippi Supreme Court by his own son-in-law.
eclare
@UncleEbeneezer:
Agree 100%. Voting no matter the impediments is all that matters.
sdhays
@Mai Naem mobileI: She doesn’t have an Ivy league pedigree, so she was never considered for a Thomas clerkship.
He’s just her idol.
eclare
@Alison Rose:
Oh wow, you’re right. That is awful.
Betty Cracker
@Alison Rose: Filthy little buggers!
wjca
@Mai Naem mobileI:
I do wonder why his caucus isn’t trying to find a replacement who is in better shape. Do they consider that all of the alternatives are less capable the a damaged Moscow Mitch? And what does that self-image say about them….
Betty Cracker
@RedDirtGirl: It’s appalling that they went on as if nothing happened. Jesus Christ.
lowtechcyclist
@trollhattan:
Make that 30YO. The Constitution says you have to be at least 30 years old to serve in the Senate.
Nelle
@Alison Rose: Do they even know that they want to stay on the job or is the staff liking the next boost of power that they now have in controlling them?
Burnspbesq
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
They can. But not until an appealable order gets appealed.
bbleh
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): doesn’t she need to make a ruling or other decision that’s reviewable before they can take it up? I expect Smith et al. are watching very closely for one of those that’s sufficiently egregious
ETA: dang, beat by a nose
Alison Rose
@Nelle: I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s part of it. But many politicians for some reason seem incredibly loathe to ever step back. I mean, I get it, you don’t want to give up that power, but like…I don’t know. Y’all really wanna die in office?
wjca
@trollhattan:
Small problem there. McConnell’s term doesn’t end until 2027. And for the moment, if he goes a replacement would be named by the Democratic governor. Bit of a challenge there when it comes to finagling.
Elizabelle
@HumboldtBlue: LOL. And the question
seems to beis whether he is running again in 2026.The irony.
And McConnell has enough presence to mouth “yes” to question of whether he heard the question once he froze up.
Mai Naem mobileI
In what fantasy world can Woodward representing all of these guys not be a conflict of interest? Even I can see the possible consequences of having this guy represent all these people. And Orange Lump isn’t going to be paying for these people’s legal bills forever.
Nelle
@Alison Rose: They just don’t look cognizant enough to make their wishes known. Or to know their own wishes. On the other hand, maybe leaving office feels like a death sentence to them. If not this, then what?
Elizabelle
Wondering how much hardball the Democrats could play if McConnell’s seat becomes vacant through illness or death (preferable) in the next few months.
bbleh
@Geminid: @Dorothy A. Winsor: @wjca: there’s already been a good deal of speculation about that, including here IIRC. Names I’ve seen floated are Thune and Barrasso (both currently in leadership) and Cornyn, and personally I’d give Cornyn the edge.
Burnspbesq
@sdhays:
Duke undergrad, Michigan law. Not exactly chopped liver. But I have it on good authority that she was not a Cameron Crazy, which suggests a deeply flawed character.
Citizen Alan
@wjca: There is supposed to be a law in place that compels Gov. Beshear to choose Turtle’s replacement from among a list of Republicans the KYGOP provides for him. Beshear has indicated his belief that it is unconstitutional under the KY Const, but it hasn’t been tested yet. A more interesting question is: Should Turtle step down or die, will the Dems block his replacement from assuming any committee seats unless the GOP agrees to concessions re: Feinstein’s replacement.
eclare
@Nelle:
Yeah. I don’t think “I’m retiring to spend more time with my family” rings true for McTortoise. Whereas Obama, Clinton, hell even Boehner and W seem to be enjoying life.
eclare
@Burnspbesq:
Hahaha…that says a LOT! I suffered through a few years of dating one.
Geminid
@wjca: Senate Republicans may not want a leadership fight because there is no consensus on a replacement. A contested succession might rile up the party as happened with McCarthy’s Speakership bid. That’s a pretty stressed-out party as it is. Sad!
Soprano2
@Alison Rose: He may get his wish to die in office. What’s bad about that is who would replace him as Minority Leader. Nobody good.
smith
@wjca: KY Repubs anticipated this some time ago, and changed the law so that the guv names the replacement from a group of 3 nominated by the departing Senator’s party. Beshear will have to choose the least bad from what will likely be a bad lot.
Elizabelle
@Citizen Alan:
Absolutely would want to see the Dems do this. Play hardball. It’s the principle of the thing.
I think DiFi would step down if her immediate replacement on the Judiciary Committee (and any others) could be assured.
SiubhanDuinne
@lowtechcyclist:
Oh, Constitution Schmonstitution. What do they care?
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Burnspbesq:
@bbleh:
Thanks. Hopefully she makes a mistake that can be appealed
Alison Rose
@Nelle: It’s sad, even with someone I dislike such as McConnell. But like…it’s hard enough going through this shit, why choose to do it in front of the whole damn country? Like, dude, your name is a trending topic on Twitter* and it’s thousands of people gawking at you having a medical issue. Is that fun???
(*I will never call it X)
Elizabelle
@Soprano2: This is a cruel wish by me, but justice would be McConnell having a stroke which leaves him a speechless paraplegic, but aware of his plight.
sdhays
@Burnspbesq: I’m not someone who thinks the Ivy League is all that. If I were a Supreme Court Justice, I would cast my clerk net wide. I just doubt that Clarence Thomas is someone who has the same philosophy.
sdhays
@Elizabelle: When he was President and incessantly haranguing us all via Twitter and his awful chopper press yelling, I hoped for something similar for TFG.
Now I just want him to go to prison where he belongs. And live a long, aware life.
Elizabelle
@sdhays: Yes. No death for TIFG but one in prison. He must not escape earthly justice.
And I hope that Jared is next up.
bbleh
@trollhattan: problem is, it takes forever to load something that big using a paper-tape reader.
sdhays
@Alison Rose: I’ve compromised and call it “Xitter”, with the X pronounced as an “sh”. That makes Elon “Chief Xit”, which is fun and accurate.
Alison Rose
@sdhays: LOLLL
smith
I just watched the video of today’s McConnell freeze. Wow, does he look to be in a bad way. Even after he recovered enough to answer a question he seemed barely able to speak.
Geminid
@wjca: Kentucky Governor Beshear would choose from among 3 candidates listed by the Republican majority in the state legislature.
Fun Beshear fact: Andy Beshear came in 5th in a survey of 50 state Governor approval ratings. Four Republican governors came in ahead of him, so Beshear had the highest approval rating of any Democratic Governor even though he leads a Republican state.
RaflW
@Nora: “They had to have SOME knowledge of how the law works, right?”
The law is, like everything else, political. They know how to work it, not how to neutrally abide it.
There have been periods where perhaps it has been less partisan, but that was because our two political parties used to be more in alignment on privileging white people (and their associates. Thomas may be Black, but his life’s work has been to abet the culture to which he has, an unusual exception, been admitted).
It is no coincidence whatsoever that the same party is seeking to excuse unethical behavior in several SCOTUS justices (ain’t just Clarence who’s received luxe trips and other tainted pleasures) and seeking to excuse TFG’s crimes and corruptions.
eclare
@Geminid:
Interesting how Kentucky voters split their vote.
Roger Moore
@Burnspbesq:
It’s hard for me to see how much worse she could be if she were pissed off. She’s already behaving as if half her job is to serve as adjunct defense counsel. What more is she going to do?
jonas
@rikyrah: Giuliani has entered the FO zone. He still has the Dominion suit to defend as well, iirc.
zhena gogolia
Mitch froze again — has this been discussed? This one’s even worse.
zhena gogolia
@smith: Yeah, this one is worse than the first one.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue: Sorry I didn’t read the thread!
Elizabelle
@zhena gogolia: Yup. Upthread.
Am not sorry to see it. Have some sympathy for him as a fellow human, but he is a bad, bad man.
Betsy
@Betty Cracker: Cackling at this suitably Florida-themed characterization.
Oh .. that VOICE. }}shudder{{
Geminid
@eclare: Beshear’s father Steve Beshear was a popular Democratic Governor, and the Republican incumbent Andy Beshear beat in 2019 was a real jerk. Kentucky still has a lot of registered Democrats who don’t like the national party but still aren’t all-in on Republicans.
Alison Rose
NYT quotes a spokesman who says again, as they did after the previous episode, that McConnell felt “lightheaded” and like…that is such obvious bullshit. You don’t freeze up and stop speaking because of that.
Hoodie
@smith: He seems to have a mini stroke. He was completely unable to engage. Probably a matter of time before the big one hits.
Elizabelle
@Alison Rose: Fuck the Fucking Nepotism Hire (Staples heir editor!) NY Times.
catclub
…. and then tell them to fuck off.
Hoodie
@Alison Rose: He may have felt light-headed, but that looked like a TIA. My dad had a series of those before he completely stroked out.
piratedan
@Alison Rose: c’mon now, if you were a GOP staffer serving Mitch mcConnell would you actually believe that they would speak truth? Much less even if the did to have the NYT report it faithfully without their own shade being thrown to cover?
Elizabelle
To cleanse this thread, with its discussion of Clarughnce Thomas, the reprehensible hacks John Eastman and Aileen Cannon, and the silent Mitch McConnell:
LA Times on an airborne pet relocation rescue mission — small planes fly animals from kill shelters to foster organizations. Co-founder is celebrity adjacent (niece of Allison Janney, Petra).
Amelia Air does great work. I wish the LA Times provided gift links, but this one is worth a click. Lots of doggo photos.
‘Despair solves nothing’: How pilots in tiny planes are saving dogs from death
Eolirin
@Soprano2: I think enough has probably already been done that it won’t affect things too much going into 2024, but while any replacement to McConnell is likely to be an even worse human being, I’m skeptical any of them will be nearly as effective at advancing Republican objectives as he was.
So if we can get through 2024 reasonably intact, for 2026 and onwards, not having McConnell around will likely help us tremendously. Though I suspect his passing will also empower the MAGA grifter faction quite a bit as well. So things may get a bit more dangerous for a while too.
Alison Rose
@catclub: Well it’s me, so…yes, often.
Elizabelle
@Hoodie: Yep. McConnell clearly could not speak, but for a feeble “yes” to whether he understood the previous question.
catclub
@BellaPea:
Porque no los dos?
Alison Rose
@Hoodie: My dad had a couple as well, along with seizures. Terrifying to see.
eclare
@Elizabelle:
Glad to see that.
eclare
@Alison Rose:
My dad never had TIA’s, but he definitely had issues with lightheadedness. The result was that he passed out and fell to the floor several times, one time narrowly missing a glass coffee table, which was terrifying. That is what happens with lightheadedness.
Chief Oshkosh
@Scout211: Some people thought that somehow Cannon would learn her lesson from when the 11th handed her her ass for behaving badly last time around, that she would be a straight shooter in order to avoid further embarrassment. I didn’t understand that take. What does she care? She’s in a lifetime sinecure and politically she was raised by wolves. She will ALWAYS behave badly.
It’s her one skill.
Jackie
@Citizen Alan: “Should Turtle step down or die, will the Dems block his replacement from assuming any committee seats unless the GOP agrees to concessions re: Feinstein’s replacement.”
That’s exactly what l’ve been wondering. Throw their stupid threats right back at them!
Elizabelle
Actually, the FTF Nepotism NY Times is pretty straightforward about McConnell, and the story is prominent on the website. And — and this pleased and amazed me — they have opened the story up to comments.
Providing a free gift link, so you can get in there and comment away. Big guess that the eventual top rated comments will not be good wishes for his health.
McConnell Freezes Up a Second Time While Addressing Reporters
The episode, which took place in the Republican leader’s home state of Kentucky, intensified questions about his future in the Senate.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
And in general, voters are much more willing to consider a Governor of the opposite party than a Senator. In addition to Kentucky, otherwise ruby-red Kansas and Louisiana also have Dem Governors. Meanwhile, blue Vermont has a GOP governor, as did Maryland up until the last election.
Elizabelle
I will love if Jimmy Carter outlives Mitch McConnell. It could happen.
One of these gentlemen will be sincerely mourned.
Citizen Alan
@Alison Rose: Disagree. This is genuinely karmic justice in my eyes. McConnell has done irreparable harm to this nation that won’t be undone in my lifetime. Unforgiveable harm. I’ll save my compassion for the victims of the reactionary ultraconservative SCOTUS he engineered.
Chief Oshkosh
@eclare: Kansas and Louisiana did, too. Probably there are others that don’t recall.
ETA: And I agree with you, it is interesting.
Spanky
@Elizabelle:
Never to be seen again.
Hey! A boy can dream.
Anonymous At Work
@Burnspbesq: She has yet to issue a final order that can be appealed. That’s the main thing. She’ll eventually have to do so but appears to be putting that off as long as possible (which becomes part of the appeal) while also muddying the waters. The record on her handling of Nauta’s Garcia Hearing is pretty bad, but neither the actual hearing or any decisions from it are likely to come before October, at this rate.
And yes, taking 2 months for a Garcia Hearing should be a huge red flag for 11th.
zhena gogolia
@Citizen Alan: I’m afraid I agree.
Eolirin
@Chief Oshkosh: In all the cases I can think of where a red state has a blue gov, Republican mismanagement got really bad before they voted in a Dem. I could see Florida going this way too.
But the state legislatures generally stay with the state’s partisan lean, so the effect of the governor is usually somewhat to significantly blunted.
Alison Rose
@Elizabelle: Some asshole in the comments is lumping Fetterman in with Mitch and DiFi.
Chief Oshkosh
@Eolirin: Yep, and many that has got to be thankless job. Certainly the KS legislature continues to try to totally fuck things up and the governor has to try to clean up their mess while taking the blame. I’d love for some really creative person in KS, KY, etc. to figure out ways, small and large, to personally fuck around with some of these legislators. Hell, if nothing else, go Christie on them and park a rusting piece of DOT machinery in front of their driveways.
japa21
@Eolirin: Part of the reason the leg stays with the GOP bent is due to extreme gerrymandering.
eclare
@Chief Oshkosh:
I like the way you think…go Christie on them!
sdhays
@Chief Oshkosh: Yeah, I always thought that was leaning too much on how normal judges in normal courts work. Cannon isn’t a normal judge and doesn’t care about her reputation as one. I held out hope that she would develop a care, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
Kathleen
@Betty Cracker: Glad to see you are OK. My grandsons and granddog live in Riverview and I don’t believe they had any damage. I’m very relieved. My daughter and SIL drove to Miami to fly to Mexico for her 50th birthday trip. I hope your family is OK.
Eolirin
@japa21: Even without, it would probably stay. These are still red states with a majority of Republican voters. Some of the most extreme members of their legislatures might get kicked out if their seats were less safe, but it’s not like the situation we got into in, say, New York, where Cuomo enabled shenanigans meant that the Democrats only got control over the state legislature in 2018. They’re overrepresented but they’re not clinging to power with a minority.
Places like Wisconsin, North Carolina, and maybe Texas and Florida are different matters. Kansas isn’t that.
But things would certainly be better even if they were just kept below veto proof majorities.
Elizabelle
@Alison Rose: I saw that. Trolls welcome at the FTF NY Times, if they are Republican sounding trolls
And they’re droning on about Dianne Feinstein, without realizing she may be staying to help confirm judges, since GOP has not committed to allowing a Democratic replacement on the Judiciary Committee.
People screaming about Feinstein, when it is the GOP that is ensuring this form of elder abuse. And it is elder abuse.
Kathleen
@Geminid: He does an incredible job and offered strong, empathetic leadership when Kentucky had tornadoes and massive flooding. His genuine love for the state and its citizens was palpable when he conducted his daily press conferences. He had nothing but praise for Biden administration, whose response to his request for assistance was instant. Like overnight. I’m glad he’s doing well.
Also, based on focus group of 2 religious white women in KY who lean Republican women in the state are angry about Dobbs.
Jay
Yurtle didn’t have a TIA, a mini stroke, a fainting spell or a brain fart, he merely had a brief out of shell experience.
SiubhanDuinne
@eclare:
I have to wonder — in fact, I guess I already assume — if Mitch has had similar episodes at home and/or in his office that we don’t know about simply because no reporters were present.
I started just now to write a speculative sentence that began “If his family really cared about him…” but then I thought “Oh. Right.” and didn’t pursue it.
Jay
https://nitter.net/GlasnostGone/status/1696963174258323570#m
unctuous
Schnooks for crooks.
Chris
Yes. It is. America’s version of the Council of Guardians of the Islamic Revolution is long overdue for a slapdown. Clarence Thomas is merely one of the more grotesque expressions of what’s wrong with it. (Possibly not the most grotesque, as the sight of Kavanaugh showing up piss-drunk to his confirmation hearings and blubbering in terror at the idea that he might not get to become a god-king after all is pretty hard to top).
Nora
Just curious. Has anyone actually defended Thomas by saying he didn’t accept those gifts? Or Alito, for that matter? With all the noise from their defenders, I can’t remember anyone actually saying, “No, Justice Thomas didn’t receive X or Y,” let alone proving that.
Gravenstone
@wjca: Kentucky’s legislature “fixed” that little problem by pushing through a law mandating the Governor select a replacement for a sitting Senator from that Senator’s party, and from a list presented to them.
Scout211
This may have already been posted, but yesterday Fani Willis ran an end-around on the “speedy trial” defendants. She wants them all tried at the same time and is ready. : Link
. . .
Jeffro
@Elizabelle:
This cheers me on a hot, humid, and otherwise cheerless day, thank you!
eversor
Eastman is from the Claremont organization as is the person who wrote the Flight 93 essay advocating for Trump. Claremont is like Leo’s creation of The Federalist Society in that their main goal and concern is creating a Christian Theocracy by helping the oligarchs. People here are going to ignore it but Christianity strikes again!
Scout211
And the judge in the Meadows hearing needs more time and asks more questions: Link
jonas
@Nora: I don’t think there’s any question he obviously accepted these perks and gifts. Which is why defending him basically boils down to “sure he spent years hobnobbing with uber-wealthy GOP activists and donors without disclosing it, but it doesn’t matter because shut up, that’s why.”
sdhays
@Chris:
I think he’s the “ripest”, since he’s been there so long.
JWR
From the “Surrender! Open Thread” link:
Ho hum, same as it ever was. I think it was 2004, (or maybe 1984?), when one of Shrub’s surrogates made the same argument for why Kerry shouldn’t be elected. They just weren’t as in your face about it as is John Eastman today. Oh, and they weren’t staging a frickin’ coup!
Chris
@BellaPea:
The thing about centering “greed is good” the way the movement conservative ethos does is that it pretty much completely neuters any ability to evaluate right versus wrong. The very concept that, by doing something that profits you, you might be violating some other moral obligation doesn’t even compute.
All ideologies produce people who can’t tell selfishness from higher purpose, but rarely is it as blatantly baked into the cake as it is with movement conservatism.
Chief Oshkosh
@Nora: I don’t think anyone is denying that Thomas or Alito received those gifts. And actually, I don’t think that that is the issue. The issue (to me) is that these 100 asswipes are trying to say that the two miscreants haven’t done anything illegal or unethical in accepting those gifts because the gift givers didn’t PERSONALLY have a case before the court (which may or may not be true, but what evs).
Such a narrow definition of conflict of interest should simply never apply for any governmental employee, and quadruply so for a USSC Justice, but here we are.
But all of that aside, they actually have done something wrong and illegal. They are supposed to have documented receiving those gifts – period. They did not. They should be “fired” as government employees, but there is no administrative instrument in place to do that, I guess.
Which makes me wonder, could someone be allowed to be confirmed to the Court, but not be hired by the government? If they are actually federal employees, can’t they just be fired for cause? Sure they’re still on the Court, they were nominated and confirmed, but they just no longer get paid to do it. No paycheck or bennies, nothing that involves taxpayer funds.
different-church-lady
Everyone is an idiot. E.O.M.
UncleEbeneezer
In case you missed it, Yasmin Nair a writer for Current Affairs (founder/editor is self-declared Leftist, Nathan Robinson) is bashing the Buttigieg family and spreading the soundly debunked myth that the murder of Matthew Shepard really might have just been about drugs, not a homophobic hate crime. W T (he entire) F is wrong with these assholes?
Ceci n est pas mon nym
@Scout211: It’s apparently a question without an obvious answer that the judge is going to have to decide. And anticipate whether the appeals court will overrule him. (This is from my legal education which consists of listening to a lot of Meidas Touch videos)
I’m not sure why he needs to consider the appeal, but I guess he wants whatever decision he comes to, to be as carefully reasoned as possible to be appeal-proof as much as possible.
sdhays
@Chief Oshkosh: I believe the Constitution specifically bans Congress revoking pay for judges.
Elizabelle
@eversor: I think if you said “rightwing Christianity” when you bring up Christianity, your comments would be more truthful.
Unless you think Jimmy Carter and other actual good people who happen to follow Christianity are down with a theocracy.
Dolly Parton is a Christian too. Guess she belongs in hell, too! Along with all the books she has given freely to elementary students, all these many years. Dolly believes in education, literacy, and vaccines.
Don’t be such a moron, eversor. You are offensive.
Eolirin
@Elizabelle: So is Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton and an overwhelming number of black voters who make up the core of the Democratic party and without which fascism would be inevitable.
Scout211
And since we are moving into O/T territory, an update re: Valdivia’s post on the Spanish Football Federation (reposted from way downstairs:
You will all be relieved to know that Rubiales’ mama’s “long” hunger strike is over. Yes, she was willing to die for her baby boy’s good name but she was sent to the hospital by the priest because he was hot, tired and anxious. She did not die. And she won’t be welcomed back into the church. Poor suffering woman. It was hot! Link
smith
@Chris: Truth to tell, Thomas’ confirmation hearings were pretty pretty memorable as well.
pajaro
@jonas:
Yes.
It’s incredible how awful and amateurish the Thomas letter is. It’s this smarmy over-the-top recounting of his impoverished upbringing, and of all the hurdles he surmounted to ascend to his present circumstances. It reads like a junior high school tribute, not something written for Supreme Court clerks. It describes circumstances that occurred years prior to the time that any of the writers knew Thomas, and it fails completely to grapple with the enormous amount of money represented by the “gifts,” the fact that they were given by people who knew Thomas only because he was a Supreme Court Justice, they fact that they had interests in cases, even if indirect that Thomas was capable of advancing, and the fact that Thomas violated federal law by failing to disclose the gifts. (in other words, every thing that is relevant to his actions)
Leading with Thomas’s impoverished childhood is such a weird decision–are we to assume that someone who grew up poor is less likely to be corrupted by lavish gifts? And all of this on behalf of the guy who gutted affirmative action?
https://abovethelaw.com/2023/08/clarence-thomas-clerk-letter/
Barbara
@Scout211: It does get pretty darn hot in Spain.
Geminid
@UncleEbeneezer: Ed. Lefties like Robinson and and Nair have had it in for Buttigieg ever since the Iowa primary.
Some Twitter wag suggested thst we build a southern border wall out of Bernie Sanders primary losses because people can’t get over them.
Tony G
These guys can’t seem to keep their mouths shut. Wanna-be gangsters.
Ruckus
@rikyrah:
The real problem is that none of the other sad sacks running or anyone else the media has in the bullpen will excite Republican primary voters enough to leave or forsake Trump regardless of his legal situation.
Exactly.
They WANT HIM. They think (OK whatever it is that their tiny little moron brains actually do) that he is the second coming of something. That he is their savior. That he will change their world and make Most Asinine GooberOldPoop Acceptable. And real, actual human beings do not drool at the sight and sound of SFB. Because he is a snotty disaster of 5 yr old in a 77 yr old disaster of a human body. He is their mascot. Their demigod. He alone can take the rest of humanity down to their level. Cause he sure can’t bring any of it in any way out of the slime at the bottom of whatever pit he has made for himself and is in way, way over his fugly head.
rikyrah
No lie told
Skeptical Brotha![]()
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(@skepticalbrotha) posted at 11:31 AM on Wed, Aug 30, 2023:
Investigative work on Native American boarding schools and their federally sanctioned institutionalized abuses destroys any criticism that systemic racism isn’t a thing. Slavery and Native American genocide are two halves of a whole white supremacy.
(https://twitter.com/skepticalbrotha/status/1696923547854160340?t=tQIT0_ImLU5U_cQORSiTMg&s=03)
UncleEbeneezer
@rikyrah: “In addition to the federally supported schools tallied by the Interior Department, the coalition identified 115 more institutions that operated beginning in 1801, most of them run by religious groups and churches.”
You don’t say…
cain
@Scout211: Does she think that we aren’t watching? Nobody trusts her. None of this is surprising.
Imagine trying to provide a playbook – that’s judicial fraud. I hope the system sends this woman out.
What blows my mind is – seeing how everyone who helped Trump end up in court with their lives ruined – why would you do the same thing? What is the pay off??!
Geminid
@Kathleen: Governor Beshear picked a smart theme for his radio addresses and broader governance: “Team Kentucky.” This one may be as may be as good a slogan as Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola’s “Fish Family Freedom.”
I’d like to think both Beshear and Peltola will be elected to the Senate in 2028. They could make a dynamic duo. Rep. Jeff Jackson of North Carolina might join them after knocking out the mediocre Ted Budd.
MattF
Charlie Stross notes on Mastodon that McConnell having two ‘episodes’ on-camera means, pretty clearly, that there are many more in private. He’s a sick man.
https://mathstodon.xyz/@[email protected]
Chris
@Ruckus:
The other thing is that as long as he’s eligible to run for office, they won’t change their minds about it, because that would mean admitting that they were wrong and the liberals and “elite Republicans” warning them against Trump were right, and they can’t do that. They’ve all been socialized to believe that doubling down on your stupidity is the only appropriate way to face it, because admitting you were wrong is a sign of weakness.
Wyatt Salamanca
@Elizabelle:
I’ll second that.
McConnell is an obstructionist scumbag and the gravedigger of American democracy by virtue of enabling Trump every step of the way. He deserves to burn in Hell.
wjca
@MattF:
And in ill health as well.
Jeffro
This is good: female GOP candidates try to avoid losing this fall (due to their party’s anti-reproductive rights extremism) by talking up their support for birth control.
Good luck, ladies! No one’s buying your story.
Can’t we agree that Nikki should get a response from her own party before proceeding?
Jay
https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2023/08/30/Whats-Up-With-The-Wasps/
laura
Off Topic breaking personal news-
I’m on the train to see Beyonce and people are DRESSED! It’s a party and somebody dialed the joy up to 11.
Elizabelle
@laura: Lucky duck! Have fun
That could be a subject for OTR, I think.
lowtechcyclist
@Barbara:
And if you’re not in the plain, you don’t even get much rain to cool you down.
sab
@cain: This isn’t new for Republicans. Their judges often aren’t particularly competent and Republicans in general just don’t believe in governance in general. They think their job is to screw things up.
We have a federal district court judge in NE Ohio (under the 6th Circuit) who will not even speak to the other judges. They communicate via their clerks. Judicial temperment failure there? He tied up litigation on issues between city and EPA about deficiencies in our sewer system for at least a decade. That held up construction. Sewers didn’t get improved and meanwhile costs skyrocketed. But it did damage our Democratic mayor’s wider political prospects.
They finally got the judge pulled off the case for failure to proceed but only after a decade of stalling. And he is still on the bench for life.
JWR
@Jeffro:
And what do Republican women do once the Supremes roll back access to contraceptives?
Wyatt Salamanca
One more thing about McConnell.
What kind of man remains silent when Donald Trump issues racist insults about his wife? McConnell is an irredeemable. unrepentant rat-fucking bastard.
Jay
As ususal, Canadian “conservatives” are copy catting ReThugs once again.
https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2023/08/29/Social-Conservatives-Plan-Alberta-Schools/
trollhattan
We weren’t skating through summer w/o some chunky wildfire air. Del Norte and Siskiyou counties in far NW California have emergency declarations due to fires. Not sure how much we’ll be enjoying that Super Blue Moon thingie.
lowtechcyclist
@Geminid:
Jeez. I’m hardly a big fan of Buttigieg, but that was three and a half years ago. These guys need to get over it.
Jackie
Idalia doesn’t like Pudd’n Boots either! 100 old tree crashed into his home today. He wasn’t home; the family’s ok.
https://www.rawstory.com/casey-desantis-2664661298/
Jay
@JWR:
the same thing they will do when the Supremacist courts roll back alimony,
double down.
trollhattan
@Wyatt Salamanca: Same kind of man who doesn’t punch him for calling his wife ugly [cough, Ted Cruz, cough].
Elizabelle
@Jeffro: Isn’t that a Streisand moment?
Jackasses. “Yes, Republicans are coming for your birth control. But vote for MEEEEE. I am not like that.”
trollhattan
@Jackie: We could’a had another Abbott!
Jay
@trollhattan:
well, if you can see it, it won’t be blue,……….
sab
I know networking is normal, but isn’t the close networking among Thomas clerks a bit unusual and possibly problematic? Loyalty, or working towards a seat on the Gravy Train?
UncleEbeneezer
@laura: My fave podcasters Rod & Karen of TBGWT Podcast went and talked about how amazing the atmosphere was and all the amazing outfits in the crowd. Have fun.
For anyone interested, there are several HD videos of full shows on YouTube. Thanks to the HUGE video screen in her stage, you can actually see everything pretty well. We can’t afford tix to the LA shows, so we will probably get good and stoned and watch one this weekend.
UncleEbeneezer
@lowtechcyclist: You’re such a DNC shill!
MisterDancer
You know, I lost friends, and a close mentor, from post-9/11 Islamophobia. From people literally saying “People here are going to ignore it but Islam strikes again!”
Those people ignored the fact that — due in part to me being a Belly Dancer who’d also been an ass towards the culture — studied Islam, and many of the cultures impacted by same. When I reached out to these people, and offered to explain the hadiths and fatwas they’d been fed by what we now call the online Alt-Right, I was at best told to fuck off.
I’m not Islamic, nor am ever likely to be. But I do believe strongly in Truth, and how Truth oftentimes leads one to nuanced takes, to understanding the details of a situation, and not just to drop a label and run away.
Because: I accept that the religion that, say, Dr. King worshiped has the same name as the one that, say, Leonard Leo claims to be part of. But you’ll forgive this old Black Man if I will continue to argue that you cannot label a religion as evil, given that spread amongst it’s adherents.
It’s as stupid and foolish to call all Christians purveyors of evil intent, as it was and is to label everyone in Islam at 10 min away from suicide bombing the world. Both approaches are short-sighted and only make sense if you’re dropping labels to make yourself feel better, not to have a reasonable and thoughtful engagement on fixing the issues that this brand of false idol “Christians” bring to our world.
Even if Christianity vanished tomorrow…well, racism, for one, never needed “Christians” to get itself spread. Hell, there’s white supremacist Pagans, for fuck’s sake!
Jay
@trollhattan:
didn’t Brave Sir Ted run away to Cancun when TFIG insulted his wife?
Or was that about something else?//
Did he also abandon his dog?
eclare
@laura:
Whee! I’m so jealous! Have a great time!
And dance your ass off.
wjca
@JWR:
Maybe drop the marriage age (for girls) to 12. And allow arranged (by father) marriages involving women of any age.
MisterDancer
One of the books on my shelf is a signed, and sadly unread, copy of Kevin M. Levin’s SEARCHING FOR BLACK CONFEDERATES. It’s a work that’s about not only the obvious topic — documenting that no, Black men didn’t take up arms in any real way for The Confederacy — but more.
And that more is, based on the work Levin has documented on Twitter and led me to buy his book, about the (very poor!) Black men who did take advantage of the post-War desire, from the White aristocracy, to justify Southern aggression in defending chattel slavery. To whatever extend these men “believed” what they were selling, they used that White desire to change what happened and parlayed it into money and fame. These Black Men directly helped, if unwittingly, build up The Lost Cause Myth.
I think about those men, sometimes, when I think about Clarence Thomas. I think about how he felt ill-served and justified in turning his back on where he came from, in so many ways. I think about how his quest for money and fame led him down similar paths as these “Black Confederates.”
Except Thomas knows what he’s doing, and did it anyway.
No One You Know
@rikyrah: Scary part is that if Democrats have to take apart a SCOTUS that can’t be trusted, while the Republicans erode stability of electoral and educational institutions, what’s left looks utterly unpredictable.
I should probably look at kittens, but even they think of nothing but murder all day.
Maybe regard chrysanthemums instead.
Frankensteinbeck
@Hoodie:
My mother the doctor was boggled. With the first one she figured it was a TIA, but when she saw this she didn’t know. A brain tumor (not necessarily cancerous) or very weird, very bad Parkinson’s effect were the two things she could come up with. She said that whatever it is, McConnell’s health is very, very bad.
@JWR:
Remember after Obama was elected and some columnist suggested the military might want to step in for the good of the nation? Good times.
@Chris:
A comment of great wisdom. Grifters and true believers are often the same person.
Geminid
@Jeffro: Rep. Marrianette Miller-Meeks is known for her 6 vote win over Democrat Rita Hart in 2020. She won the seat held by retiring Democrat Dave Lobsack. Redistricting left her in a new district and she won that one by 20,000 votes last year.
Miller-Meeks was born in California in 1967, and enlisted in the Army where she received medical training. When she left the Army she set up an ophthalmology practice in Iowa and then won a seat in the Iowa legislature before her run for Congress in 2020.
She currently is a member of the House Aluminum, Steel and Motorcycle Caucuses (and a dozen others). Besides party and “ideological” caucuses like the Progressive Caucus, the House has a ton of interest caucuses. Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, for instance, is in the Cranberry Caucus.
Jay
@sab:
from what we know now, many of our so called “elites” are just nepo babies.
“It’s not who you are, it’s who you know”.
In the case of the Thomas Clerks, it’s how they got through Law School, got to clerk, got to go to White Shoe Law firms, got to judge, got elected,
It sure wasn’t talent.
Ditto for Tech bro’s, CEO’s, etc.
Feathers
@UncleEbeneezer: @rikyrah:
Overhead some college students in Cambridge talking about how they couldn’t believe the government had the power to take children away from their parents. “What could be worse than that?” They clearly had no knowledge of the history of why the government stepped in. You can make the argument that it’s worse than the religious groups that used to be in charge, but you can’t just pretend that removing the government from the equation means every child ends up in a happy, stable family.
And fuck the punitive religious schools. My family in Ireland emigrated from a town with one of the more infamous children’s “homes.” Disgraceful.
Ruckus
@BellaPea:
Eastman looks to me like he’s reached maximum senior status, which means he looks like an old fart who has passed maximum aging, and will look this same way until he passes into the next stage, past actual breathing. You know the trip Mitch McConnell is about 3/4 of the way through.
Subsole
@sdhays:
Everything I see these days leads me to an inescapable conclusion:
You don’t go to Yale for an education. Now, you will get an education if you go there. It will likely be a very good one. But the education is not the point. The point is making the proper connections with the people who have tenure in the building your parents funded the construction of.
The Ivies are for those with the appropriate breeding to make the appropriate connections. That’s it. There’s only one major: Networking, and never you mind what it says on the diploma.
Elizabelle
@Subsole: Yep. Connections. And bragging rights.
Gonna be interesting to watch the campaign to abolish legacy admissions at the Ivies.
kalakal
@Jay: Interesting article and I like the point it makes.
Puts on pedant hat: The worker wasps you see bimbling about are female. Male wasps can’t sting*.
*may not apply to all types but does to yellow jackets & paper wasps
Ruckus
@Geminid:
I’m going with he will never quit, he will hang on till his last breath. And no one on his side is going to question that he absolutely should hang on as long as he wants. Even if he can’t say yes or no.
opiejeanne
@Chief Oshkosh: When Willie Brown was.Speaker of the California Assembly, he had Assemblyman Walter Ingalls’s office moved into a broom closet, desk and all, when Wally didn’t vote the way he wanted. He tried to laugh it off, but he didn’t run for reelection in 1986. He was first elected at age 27 in 1970.
In hunting for information about the broom closet incident, I found that this was SOP with Willie Brown.
Subsole
@Chief Oshkosh:
You remember those Militia Yahoos who occupied that wildlife refuge a few years ago, and everyone absolutely buried them in box upon box of mailed-in dildos…?
I’m just saying…
Ruckus
@trollhattan:
Too much pure breed horse shit spread too deeply on any/every available square foot of land.
kalakal
@Ruckus: That’s how I see it to.
Ruckus
@Alison Rose:
Y’all really wanna die in office?
What else has he got going for him? He wants to either live forever or go out as the conservative leader of the senate. He’s not getting number 1 so number 2 it is.
Geminid
@Ruckus: I just hope McConnell gets to write a memoir after he retires. It wiil be self-serving of course, but I still want to see what McConnell has to say about Trump.
But the memoir I really want to see is Mark Milley’s.
sab
@Elizabelle: Why do you want him to live forever? Rosilyn has dementia. I have deeply admired the man for most of my life. I want him to have a good final few months without late trauma.
My dad just turned 99. He has dementia and periodically wonders what we have done with his wife (our mother, who died eleven years ago.)
I am glad Mom never saw Dad in full dementia. It would have broken her heart.
Jay
@kalakal:
https://www.science.org/content/article/male-wasps-fend-attackers-penis-stingers
Anyway, wasps are weird.
wjca
@Ruckus:
Makes one less vote for obstruction, no?
kalakal
@Jay: lol!
Geminid
@opiejeanne: Cameron Webb, the Democratic candidate for the 5th Virginia CD in 2020, was an Obama-appointed White House Fellow working at HHS when Trump took over (Webb held medical and law degrees). Political appointees moved Webb’s desk into a hallway.
Webb hung in there though, and got to have his say on health policy. His parents grew up in the civil rights era and may have counseled their son to stand tall and not let the racists chase him away.
Cameron Webb is still a fairly young man and I think he will be heard from yet in Virginia’s political world. He lives and works in Charlottesville and the 5th CD is more Republican since he lost to Bob No-Good by 5 points, but I’d love to see Webb move to Greene County and run for Abigail Spanberger’s 7th CD seat next year. Spanberger has given Democrats a heads-up that she will retire from Congress and run for Governor in 2025.
Elizabelle
@sab: I suspect JEC is glad to be there for Rosalynn, for however long he is able to be.
I’m so sorry about your dad’s dementia. It is a terrible disease.
eclare
@Geminid:
Thanks for all your insight into VA politics!
Elizabelle
@Geminid: I like the idea of Cameron Webb as Abigail’s successor. That would get me driving out to canvass.
sab
@Elizabelle: They have good children who can deal with it better than he can. He does not need to see her decline. But I do think you want his best.
No One You Know
@smith: That what I read, but I also read that if Beshear contests the law, does that mean a judge’s ruling could stay the proceedings? Which now leads me to notice the ever-increasing number of judges making decisions about senior executive and representative positions…fuck, McConnell’s lifelong strategy worked?! Capture the judiciary, and everything else falls with it.
I feel like a naive idiot. I really thought if we donated, voted, etc. the institution of democracy would follow the moral arc of the universe. Seems as if it ain’t necessarily so.
Geminid
@Elizabelle: There will be other good candidates who already live in the eastern end of the 7th, where 2/3s of the voters live. Webb could still be a strong primary candidate though, and it’s a newly drawn district with a lot of new residents. Webb could be a strong primary and general election candidate.
In the 2020 campaign, I saw Webb speak to a crowd in Stanardsville. A lot of Black people turned out. Webb was low-key but seemed to have some charisma; he reminded me of another tall skinny Black man named Barack Obama.
MisterDancer
Dr. King said “bends” for a reason. That doesn’t imply it moves in a straight line, quite the opposite.
And yeah. It’s a neat quote about long-term vision. But it’s hope, and Dr. King would also be the first to explain that hope is not a strategy, and that real, sustained change does involve a lot of elbow grease.
Elizabelle
@Geminid: I just hope that sexism/misogyny does not do in Abigail’s chances for governor. She would be an excellent top state executive.
And, aside from the evangelical sheep, I think a segment of Republican women, actual GOP moderates, and independents will not find her scary. Virginia is a prochoice state.
We met a LOT of GOP moderates who were not down with Trump or with Dave Brat. Despised them both.
Ruckus
@zhena gogolia:
It always gets worse. Always.
I’m an old, as I state here often. I was the youngest in my family, I’m now the oldest in my family and the extended family. Mitch is only a few yrs older than me. Which really isn’t that old, except that he had a very bad disease when he was 1, polio. I personally know/have known/grew up with 4 people that had polio. 2 aren’t here any longer, I is likely still here and 1 is a neighbor. But I also know a number of people that haven’t lived as long as he has that didn’t have polio. He’s been a big cheese in his world and likely thinks he can be that till they carry him out the last time. He’s wrong of course, and he’s proving it in front of a nation.
Ruckus
@Hoodie:
Or the small ones add up. It works both ways.
artem1s
well it was sign or take the clerkship off their resumes. who wants to answer that question in an interview. ‘if you knew he was corrupt and had no integrity why didn’t you report him or simply quit? If you knew the report you prepared for him was a pack of lies, why didn’t you refuse to be involved?”
artem1s
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
the Roberts court lost all legitimacy when they eliminated pre-clearance. and upheld Citizen’s United
Ruckus
@Elizabelle:
He’s the guy who has reached the pinnacle of his career a long time ago and has no where to go but gone. He’s lived his life with a disease that really does kick one’s ass and it really takes a lot to live with it. I know because I personally know someone with the same disease. She’s my age so a bit younger than him and has lived in a wheelchair for over 1/3 of her life. It isn’t easy, in any way, shape or form, and he is very unusual in that he doesn’t HAVE to use a wheelchair. (Polio in the legs – what he and my friends had – usually a person ends up in a wheelchair. He is extremely lucky that he hasn’t had to live in one.) But we all eventually lose at the game of life, some a lot sooner than later. (Had a cousin who lasted 6 months. His mother made it into her early/mid 40s)
Ruckus
@Jay:
Ya know, I most likely don’t like him any more than anyone else here, but. As the oldest old fart left in my family and extended family I’ve personally known people with senior diseases, like Alzheimers, TIAs, Cancer, etc and as the youngest, I’ve seen everyone in my family buried. He didn’t get his diseases because he’s a shitty rethuglican, he got them because he was born and is on his last legs. I’m not asking that we honor him or even treat him as an actual human, because he hasn’t acted like one.
But the diseases he has, at least polio and old fartitus, he didn’t get those because of his politics, he got them because while he doesn’t always act it, he is human. Knock him all you want for his personality and politics, he deserves that. His disease is/should be off limits. Because that’s not political, it wasn’t his choice, it’s a disease. Other people have it, and his disease and age didn’t make him an asshole, he earned that the easy way, being him and did so a long time ago.
Ruckus
@Chris:
Yep.
However I think they double down on their stupid because they are – stupid. It’s a self-fullfilling prophecy and is very difficult to change because – stupid.
Elizabelle
@Ruckus: I have some limited sympathy for Mitch as a fellow human, and horrible as he is, you can see the human. We don’t talk about him in a lizard suit, as for Cruz and DeSantis and Hawley.
BUT: he has been effective in tearing our country’s institutions apart. Better that he had never lived. He did way too much damage.
And now the Grim Reaper awaits. (JuJu in next thread joked a cloaked figure was seen in the background at the press conference.)
evodevo
@kalakal:
Yep…that’s cause most stingers in the insect world derive embryonically from the female ovipositor used for laying eggs…so, if you are a male….
LiminalOwl
@Elizabelle:
@Eolirin: Seconding both of you (and fwiw I’m not a Christian), but recommending not to engage with eversor about Christianity.