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Today’s gop: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

It’s pointless to bring up problems that can only be solved with a time machine.

Glad to see john eastman going through some things.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

‘Museums aren’t America’s attic for its racist shit.’

People are complicated. Love is not.

Israel is using food as a weapon of war. Unforgivable.

Everybody saw this coming.

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

You cannot shame the shameless.

It’s easy to sit in safety and prescribe what other people should be doing.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

Somebody needs to explain to DeSantis that nobody needs to do anything to make him look bad.

I’d try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

Well, whatever it is, it’s better than being a Republican.

Polls are now a reliable indicator of what corporate Republicans want us to think.

Ron DeSantis, the grand wizard, oops, governor of FL.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

You are here: Home / Elections 2024 / Open Thread: Victory in Alabama?

Open Thread: Victory in Alabama?

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I have no idea if this settles the matter for Alabama GOP, cheating seems to be their only play.

(Sorry for all the Twitter links, but for breaking news, that’s still the best for embeds)

Open Thread

 

Reader Interactions

151Comments

  1. 1.

    Snarki, child of Loki

    Without a “Drone strike the AL GOP”, it’s not going to help very much.

     

    C’mon Biden!

  4. 4.

    bbleh

    I woulda given slight odds for this to happen, ‘cuz judges in general do NOT like to have their orders defied, and in this case Alabama did it TWICE.  None of which is to minimize the heavy lift by the VR lawyers, especially the first time around.

    So now what?  I’d give odds — again slight — that Alabama WON’T comply, maybe by simply ignoring the special master’s map, and once litigation resumes complaining that it’s too late for any changes.

    And even more interesting, if they don’t comply, THEN what?  I can’t see Biden federalizing the National Guard or anything like that.  Could they maybe be sued to presumptively declare the results of any election using noncompliant maps null and void?  What would that mean — no Congress-critters from Alabama?  Suppose a Republican House votes to seat them anyway?

    It seems like a big can of worms that we’re barely halfway through …

  5. 5.

    H.E.Wolf

    Hooray!

    This is a great reminder that “red” states are often actually “voter suppression” states. We needn’t give up on them.

  6. 6.

    Dagaetch

    I’m delighted but not really surprised. As much as I’m sure the RWNJustices would like to get rid of any and all D voting districts, they have big “you will respect my authoritah” energy. Openly defying the Court is gonna get you smacked down, even if they might agree with you.

  9. 9.

    trollhattan

    “How many divisions does John Roberts have?”
    “How many divisions does Kay Ivey have?”
    Stalemate?

  12. 12.

    Betty Cracker

    If state officials refuse to comply, would it be possible to exclude the state’s electoral votes and/or refuse to seat reps and senators elected under the maps in question until they comply? Not a lawyer and not a constitutional scholar, so maybe this isn’t possible — just spit-balling here…

  13. 13.

    lowtechcyclist

    @bbleh:

     Could they maybe be sued to presumptively declare the results of any election using noncompliant maps null and void?  What would that mean — no Congress-critters from Alabama?  Suppose a Republican House votes to seat them anyway?

    It would be very unlikely to be a Republican House.  AL has 7 CDs, and I assume they’re currently 6-1 GOP.  There goes most of their House majority right there, assuming the excluded AL Congresscritters don’t get to vote on their own inclusion.

  15. 15.

    Brit in Chicago

    @Betty Cracker: I don’t think this decision could make any difference to the votes for the Electoral College, or for Senator. (So, unfortunately, I can’t see those being excluded.) But it is relevant to the US House.

    I kind of doubt that even Alabama will defy the USSC. If they do, I think we’re in uncharted waters—unless there is some precedent from the Reconstruction era and its aftermath.

  16. 16.

    JMG

    The Court could and it seems would find the Governor and legislature in contempt if they defy the order. They could find them X dollars a day until they comply. They could order arrests, which the DOJ and White House would be bound to enforce. But the fines would probably be enough.

  19. 19.

    Betty Cracker

    Since it’s an open thread, three more Dems in the U.S. Senate called for Gold Bar Bob to resign: Tester, Baldwin and Casey. They join Senators Fetterman, Welch, Brown, Warren, Heinrich and Rosen in saying the crook should GTFO. Kudos to each.

  21. 21.

    CaseyL

    IIRC, there was some speculation that Kavanaugh would switch his vote from the first appeal (which went against Alabama), based an issue he raised himself in his concurring opinion then: That redistricting to achieve racial equity could not go on “indefinitely.”
    Alabama cited that precise argument in its latest appeal… but it seems Kavanaugh was not swayed, even though they made his own argument right back at him. I do find that interesting – maybe Kavanaugh doesn’t like being defied by a mere state government even more than he doesn’t like people of color having representation in Congress.​

  23. 23.

    cmorenc

    @satby:

    Fully expected that SCOTUS would not be amused by the Alabama GOP’s open defiance.

    Even with a court generally inclined to weaken 14A and VRA voting rights, Justices don’t take kindly to open defiance of such a very recent court ruling.  That, as much as anything,  motivated Kavanaugh to stick with the original 5-4 ruling

  24. 24.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @SFAW: @Brit in Chicago:

    I kind of doubt that even Alabama will defy the USSC…

    They already did, which is why today’s decision came about, yes?

    Exactly. We never seem to be prepared for the GOP to be utterly shameless, defying any law or tradition that gets in their way in order to get what they want. Of course, they will defy it. I hope the administration is prepared.

  26. 26.

    Geminid

    I think there are Voting Rights Act lawsuits similar to this one in North Carolina and South Carolina. The one in South Carolina could affect the composition of the South Carolina 1st CD represented by Nancy Mace.

    Last decade, court-ordered redistricting resulted in election of a second Black Repesentative for Virginia. Its 4th CD was redrawn after a VRA lawsuit, and the late Don McEachin won it in 2016.  Rep. McEachin passed away one week after last year’s midterms, and that seat is now held by Rep. Jennifer McClellan. The 4th includes the City of Richmond and runs south to the border of North Carolina.

  28. 28.

    randy khan

    For what it’s worth, at this point the legislature and the Governor (more or less) are out of the picture on the new districts – the court is going to draw them, based on input from consultants and whatever the parties say about the proposed maps.  That means that if the Alabama government resists implementing them, the court can go after the officials who don’t do it, with fines and even imprisonment for contempt.

    But this should give those folks the message that they’re fighting a losing battle, and while lost causes are a thing in the deep South, probably they don’t mean that they’re willing to pay the price.

  29. 29.

    RaflW

    Now that SCOTUS has made the final say, can’t the DoJ run roughshod over AL legislation (would require more court action, but it would be one hell of a court that would dare to defy such a fresh ruling)?

  30. 30.

    Baud

    OT Via reddit

    The EU has issued a warning to Elon Musk to comply with sweeping new laws on fake news and Russian propaganda, after X – formerly known as Twitter – was found to have the highest ratio of disinformation posts of all large social media platforms.

  32. 32.

    RaflW

    @Dagaetch: The conservative Justices also likely understand that green-lighting extreme partisan gerrymanders would mean that several blue states might shrug off their commitment to good governance/fairness and adopt a ‘sauce for the gander’ retributional gerrymander and freeze out the GOP.

  33. 33.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Baud: X – formerly known as Twitter – was found to have the highest ratio of disinformation posts of all large social media platforms.

    That’s a big old “Mission Accomplished” right there.

  34. 34.

    Ramalama

    @NotMax: Thanks for the reminder. I don’t get MSNBC up here in Canadia (I can buy it but it’s way more, I think).

    Also re: the Doug Jones tweet:

    rejection of a political party that has given up competing for votes

    Could it be said the GOP is expecting participating trophies, or would that be too ambitious for them?

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    Jeez. Hate-watching Andrea Mitchell’s noon show on MSNBC, and right away Senior White House Correspondent Gabe Gutierrez, reporting on Biden going to Michigan, adds that Trump “is also going to Michigan to speak to union workers.”

    These nimrods don’t check anything. But, hey, their haircuts and makeup are fabulous!

  37. 37.

    Another Scott

    A good day. More, please.

    AL.com:

    The three-judge district court ordered a cartographer and special master it has appointed to submit three proposed maps. Special Master Richard Allen submitted three proposed maps Monday.

    Parties in the case will have three days to file objections to the proposed maps.

    Presumably we’ll know very soon how the GQP in Alabama wants to keep fighting this.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  42. 42.

    H.E.Wolf

    @H.E.Wolf:This is a great reminder that “red” states are often actually “voter suppression” states. We needn’t give up on them.​

    @trollhattan:Often? Seems universal, but perhaps a Wyoming doesn’t have to.​

    * * * *

     Oh, I like to leave a little wiggle-room. :) I never know when something I think is obviously a certain way is less black-and-white upon further consideration.

    For instance, thanks to Google, just now I learned that (as in many other states) voters in Wyoming’s cities are more liberal than voters in its rural areas. I find that encouraging!​

  43. 43.

    narya

    I am of two minds about Menendez, in part because I thought Franken should have let the process play out. I think that would have been a reasonable thing to do, despite the clamor for his resignation.  That is, I think the processes ARE important. I agree that Menendez is wildly corrupt, and there are so MANY things he appears to have done–I doubt that DOJ would have gone after him, after the previous SCOTUS rulings, etc., without overwhelming evidence of more than something that looked like a quid pro quo if you caught it in the light just right. That said, he, like TIFG, is innocent until proven guilty. I think he’s corrupt scum, and he’d be smart to resign so he can focus on the court case, but he’s still entitled to the process. I suspect this is a minority opinion.

  46. 46.

    Another Scott

    @H.E.Wolf:

    This is a great reminder that “red” states are often actually “voter suppression” states. We needn’t give up on them.​

    I needed to see that again.

    Good people really need to say that as a mantra every morning.

    Texas is deep-red in large measure because of Tom Delay and his evil doings, not because the voters have changed so dramatically. Etc. They wouldn’t do these things if they trusted the voters.

    Thanks.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  47. 47.

    Geminid

    @RaflW: These lawsuits are under the Voting Rights Act that applies only to some states. Blue states are still able to gerrymander subject to state constitutional restrictions. These vary from state to state, so that Illinois Democrats got away with a fairly flagrant gerrymander while New York Democrats did not.

    I think Albany Democrats are trying to redistrict again, as are North Csrolina Republicans. The latter state is subject to the VRA.

    The general trend is away from gerrymandering and towards “neutral” redistricting commissions. These have had mixed outcomes, but the practice will likely increase.

  48. 48.

    tobie

    @Dagaetch: Klobuchar and Bennett have also called for Menendez to resign. Klobuchar mentions a Senate ethics investigation.

    NEW: Sen
    @amyklobuchar
    to NBC News: Sen Menendez should resign. “Yes, he should resign. But he has said he won’t, so that’s why I’ve called for the Senate investigation–the Senate ethics investigation to begin immediately separate & apart from the ongoing criminal case.”

  49. 49.

    kindness

    Me thinks even right wing nuts on this Supreme Court took it personally when the Alabama Leg in your faced the Supreme’s previous order.  Guess the Alabama folk figured the right wing justices were no different from Kevin McCarthy’s House lapdogs.  They found they thunk wrong.

  50. 50.

    Ken B

    @Betty Cracker: At some point, Bobby Gold Bars donated about $5K to Fetterman’s campaign.

    Fetterman has announced that they’ll be returning the contributions in ‘envelopes stuffed with cash.’

  51. 51.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @narya: Probably stupid question here, but – Is there any way Congress can strip a (current or former) member of post-retirement benefits? If so, that (coupled with forfeiture of illegally-obtained assets upon conviction, if the feds can make the right charges stick) might be a reasonable threat to hold over Menendez to persuade him to quit.​

  55. 55.

    JoyceH

    @narya: I think holding off on calling for Menendez’ resignation because of Franken is a lousy argument. Franken was a mistake. It was made in a panic at the height of the Me Too kerfuffle. One after another, sleazy abusers were being outed and the GOP was defending there guys by smearing their accusers. The Dems wanted to make the point that We Believe Women. And as I recall that period, the fear/assumption was that a bunch of new allegations against Franken was going to drop. He was a new politician, they hadn’t known him for decades, it was possible. So they got stampeded Into a bad decision. That doesn’t mean they have to keep making bad decisions to be fair.

    As for Menendez, I think the speech he made trying to explain away the evidence shows what a strong case it is.  The cash were periodic withdrawals from his own savings? Okay, so explain the briber’s fingerprints on the envelopes.

  56. 56.

    Geminid

    @Uncle Cosmo: I also think that the feds will make the right charges stick. They seem to have Menendez wrapped up tight. He’s a stubborn guy but he’s not Houdini. Menendez will either take a plea deal or face the possibility of dying in prison.

    As for Menendez’s resignation, I consider that to be a matter of when, not if.

  58. 58.

    wjca

    @Brit in Chicago: I kind of doubt that even Alabama will defy the USSC. If they do, I think we’re in uncharted waters—unless there is some precedent from the Reconstruction era and its aftermath.

    Not uncharted at all.  And not back during Reconstruction either.

    1957, Little Rock, Arkansas.  82nd Airborne deployed to integrate high school per Supreme Court ruling. If nobody has pointed that event out to the Alabama legislature, I expect they will now.

  59. 59.

    sdhays

    I didn’t know what to expect since I don’t understand what drove Roberts and Kavanaugh to decide this gerrymandering was bad compared to the others that they this is ok. But I’m glad they stuck to their guns this time.

  61. 61.

    Geminid

    @JoyceH: I think the relevant context for Franken’s resignation was not the Me Too movement but the Alabama special Senate election. Had that seat not been in play, Franken likely would have gone through Ethics Committee hearings and might have received a Reprimand from the Senate. Then Minnesota Democrats would have gotten their say the next year (I think) in the primary.

  62. 62.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Geminid: After days of waiting, the Menendez story finally showed up on my parents’ Fox screen.

    I hit my parents with the old “I hope they get him if this is true. It seems credible andthe other Dems aren’t standing for it because they take credible accusations of corruption seriously. ”

    I just got a whattabout Joe Biden in response. I dont know what has to be done to break through.

  63. 63.

    narya

    @Uncle Cosmo: I”m thinking now of Maddow’s book & podcast about Agnew (“Bagman”)–and resigning from the VP was an explicit trade for the nolo contendre plea that Agnew took. That is, it is in Menendez’s interest to hold out and see if he can bargain away some of the charges by resigning. As for the post-retirement, I really don’t know–maybe?

    That said, the Senate certainly can, and should, start its own investigation–that can be independent of the legal charges.

  65. 65.

    narya

    @JoyceH: Oh, I absolutely agree it’s a strong case! I have nothing good to say about him, and it sure looks like he’s corrupt AF. It’s also in his interest to use resignation as a bargaining chip, though there’s likely a point where that chip will start losing value, and that point can’t come soon enough for me.

  66. 66.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Geminid: Somehow th3 conversation wandered to the ACA and the birth control requirements as unacceptable government tyranny against religious employers. I got my mom agreeing on a “your Catholic employer doesn’t own you and isn’t an insurer” line of argumentation.

    The biggest feather in my cap, though, was getting my dad to skip a vote on trans bathroom rights in 2016 (I think).

  68. 68.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: I think tbe difference here is that Alabama is subject to the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court has generally upheld partisan gerrymanders in states not covered by the VRA.

  69. 69.

    Jackie

    @satby: What happens if Alabama stays defiant and again refuses? Wash, rinse and repeat? I worry they’ll be able to keep throwing up legal roadblocks, forcing the congressional districts to remain the same for ‘24’s election.😡

  70. 70.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: Yes. Franken resigning ended the false equivalence of what Franken was being accused of compared to the depravity of Roy Moore. It was a high cost, but it paid off with a Democratic Senator from Alabama and a new Democratic Senator from Minnesota.

  71. 71.

    Mousebumples

    @Betty Cracker: Since it’s an open thread, three more Dems in the U.S. Senate called for Gold Bar Bob to resign: Tester, Baldwin and Casey. They join Senators Fetterman, Welch, Brown, Warren, Heinrich and Rosen in saying the crook should GTFO. Kudos to each.

    I see a lot of Senators who are up for reelection on that list. Many of them in red or purple states.

  72. 72.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    let the trolling begin!

    Tom Cotton @SenTomCotton 2h
    The charges against Senator Menendez are serious and troubling. At the same time, the Department of Justice has a troubling record of failure and corruption in cases against public figures, from Ted Stevens to Bob McDonnell to Donald Trump to Bob Menendez the last time around.

    Senator Menendez has a right to test the government’s evidence in court, just like any other citizen. He should be judged by jurors and New Jersey’s voters, not by Democratic politicians who now view him as inconvenient to their hold on power.

    whichever staffer actually typed that is probably going to get reamed out by a superior of that -ic

  73. 73.

    sdhays

    @Geminid: Sure, but they’ve happily gutted the VRA before with very poor “reasoning”, so I don’t really have faith in their commitment to upholding the VRA (or much of anything, really).

    I mean, considering how they had already ruled in this case, today’s ruling should have been considered guaranteed. But it very much wasn’t, because the conservative Justices involved aren’t reliable.

  74. 74.

    Jay

    OT, but another place to keep an eye on,

    (((Tendar)))
    @Tendar
    Sep 25
    The standoff between the Kosovo Security Forces and the Serbian terrorists in the Bajskë Monastery is over. Three Serbian terrorists were eliminated and four more arrested.

    More interesting are huge amount of weapons, ammunition and cars stored in the monastery. It is impossible to haul so much weaponry without knowledge of the Serbian intelligence. Meaning, this was a failed attempt by Belgrade to stir up problems.

    Especially the two (!) confiscated Mercedes G-Wagon (each cost 100.000 Euro and more) tell that a high profile operation was ongoing. Together with the KFOR signs it is likely that Belgrade was trying to set up a provocation, using presumably KFOR vehicles to strike against Serbian civilians in the North and then blame NATO/KFOR while playing the victim, just like from the Russian KGB playbook known as “provokatsia”.

    This is the typical Serbian tactic which we could witness before in the 1980s and later in the war. Serbian provocateurs in Croatia and Kosovo were sent out so that the local police beat then up. Especially in Kosovo when the police were beating up Serbian rioters Milosevic appeared in his infamous “niko-nesmeje-da-vas-bije” speech (nobody is allowed to beat you). It was Serbia’s battle cry for genocide and 4 lost wars.

    This is a 1:1 repeat, but with the difference that NATO is standing watch at each corner. Just like in Eastern Europe NATO is the antidote to fascist expansions, whether Serbian or Russian. KFOR in conjunction with the Kosovo police need to investigate how far this conspiracy goes. The Serbian intelligence had likely foreign help and I have a pretty good idea which country was involved, as well. Same goes with the Serbian “church” which once again has been exposed of what it really is. Not a religion but an arm of an hostile government. Again, very similar to a certain country in the East.

    Source of pictures: @aldin_aba and @admirim

    #Kosovo

    Sep 25, 2023 · 3:58 PM UTC

    https://nitter.net/Tendar/status/1706337360542134578#m

  75. 75.

    Geminid

    @Jackie: What happens if Alabama resists? I think first the District Court appoints a Special Master to draw the new map. If Alabama officials still resist they will be hit with injunctions, fines and contempt of court charges, with possible jail time. The Justice Department will back the District Court up with Federal Marshals, and they will send as many as needed.

  76. 76.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    Ethical isn’t criminal.   Ethical violations (indictment is an ethical issue until the trial result, yes?) apply to Menendez, to Franken, etc.  And I think Menendez’ indictment counts as an ethical issue.  Waiting for the trial result weakens all ethics charges – Justice Thomas transgressions don’t exactly arise to criminal at this moment. As for Franken, I agree with his resignation.  Seven other women, many Democratic supporters, came forward with personal experiences of groping and forced kissing.

  77. 77.

    Geminid

    @sdhays: People keep saying the Supreme Court “gutted” the VRA but that is not so. They ended the preclearance requirement, and that certainly is an important part of the VRA. But the underlying prohibition on racial gerrymandering was not eliminated, and we are seeing this in today’s ruling and the one that preceded it.

  78. 78.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Updated list of Dems calling for Gold Bars to resign

    Candidly Tiff @tify330 3m

    17 Senators so far who have called for Gold Bar Bob to retire, majority have come this morning…

    @Cheryl from Maryland: as I recall one of those seven was a Hill staffer whose never-public story moved a lot of people against Franken. One of our regulars has friends in the SNL social/work circle whose reaction to the Franken stories was, “yeah, that happened”.

    ETA: I supported and enjoyed Franken, but the idea that he was a mighty dragon-slayer has become a bit exaggerated.

  79. 79.

    Another Scott

    Meanwhile, … RollCall.com:

    Why is this shutdown, if one occurs, not like the others in recent history? U.S. military servicemembers, who have to report for duty anyway because of the critical nature of their jobs, wouldn’t get paid.

    During the prolonged partial government shutdowns in late 1995-early 1996, 2013 and late 2018-early 2019 — the longest in modern history at 21, 16 and 34 days, respectively — active-duty military and reservists received their salaries during the funding lapses.

    That’s because the full-year Defense appropriations bill had already become law or, in the case of the October 2013 shutdown, Congress preemptively passed legislation guaranteeing military pay. With no enacted Defense bill even close, the only chance for military servicemembers to still get their paychecks if there’s a shutdown is for lawmakers to go the 2013 route.

    […]

    The GQP is playing with flamethrowers this time…

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  80. 80.

    billcinsd

    @Geminid: The Voting Rights At has both general protections (those that apply to all states) and special protections that only apply to some states. I believe this is a section 2 violation and hence a general protection issue

  81. 81.

    Jackie

    @Geminid: They did  the Special Master after Alabama defied SCOTUS the FIRST time. How did that work out? Back to the Supreme Court for Round 2. They’re (Alabama) right back to square one, IMO.🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

  82. 82.

    catclub

    @Geminid: ​
     

    These lawsuits are under the Voting Rights Act that applies only to some states.

    And there were extremely good and sufficient reasons that some states (and other election districts) were kept under pre-clearance. As Ruth Bader Ginsburg pointed out at length. ANY state under pre-clearance can be removed from it if they can go ten years without violating voters rights in their handling of elections. But somehow those same states were unable and or unwilling to do that. The re-approval of the VRA in 2006 covered all this.

    Roberts decided it violated the equal dignitude of the states.

    I do not know if they STILL apply after Roberts’ ruling.

  84. 84.

    FastEdD

    @narya: I agree. Gold Bar Bob is scum, but I think he should just announce he’s not running for re-election next year. We are better than R’s, but would any of them resign? I don’t think so.

  85. 85.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Justin Baragona @justinbaragona

    Joe Biden at UAW picket line: “Wall Street didn’t build this country, the middle class built this country. The unions built the middle class. That’s a fact. Let’s keep going, you deserve what you’ve earned. And you’ve earned a hell of a lot more than you’re getting paid now.”

    Will Ragland @citizenwillis

    “[Unions] get their little 5 percent. They get another 2 percent. They get another 3 percent, 4 percent. All of a sudden, they’re making more money than the people that own the company.” -Trump 2 weeks after the UAW made massive concessions to Big 3 in December of 2008.

  87. 87.

    Geminid

    @catclub: Yeah, the preclearance requirement was a neccesary and effective part of the VRA and should never have been discarded. These drawn-out proceedings likely would not have been needed had the preclearance provision been left intact..

  88. 88.

    Jay

    @catclub:

    Roberts decided it violated the equal dignitude of the states.

    Then why do the Supremes still allow comedians to use certain States as punchlines?

  89. 89.

    sdhays

    @Another Scott: I wonder if anyone in the Republican Carcass knew about this before today. You would think so, but these people…aren’t the brightest or most up-to-speed on how their job is supposed to work.

  90. 90.

    FastEdD

    This is a good day. Seeing the President wearing a UAW hat and encouraging the workers on a picket line is something I thought I’d never see. The President’s power really is mostly the bully pulpit and Joe is using it well. THANK YOU!

  91. 91.

    catclub

    @Geminid: alternatively, the house and senate should have extended all the pre-clearance requirements to ALL the states, but also included a way to be removed from pre-clearance with ten years of good behavior.

    Then Roberts would have to come up with a different excuse.

     

    I am sure that the Senate GOP would not filibuster such a modification to the law.

  92. 92.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @Jay: “…[T]he Serbian “church” … once again has been exposed of as what it really is. Not a religion but an arm of an a hostile government. Again, very similar to a certain country in the East.”​

    Some while back, with reference to an eversor pile-on, I posted here that IMO any spiritual movement that chooses to seek and hold temporal power risks losing its spirituality and devolving to an unspiritual means of controlling people. Christians have had that problem for >1700 years now (and FTR the Orthodox are especially vulnerable, being nationality-based and as close to established churches as now exist), but they are by no means alone: Islam has explicitly chased theocracy from Mohammed through Khomeini, and Modi and the BJP aren’t much (if at all) better.

    Eversor’s main misstep, I believe, has been in limiting his (entirely understandable) lashback to Christianity of the North American variety, and in overlooking (in his eagerness to get at the fundanazis that caused him great anguish) the many Christian churches and congregations that are not tossing out the baptized baby with the holy water (so to speak) in pursuit of power at the expense of the spiritual.

  93. 93.

    bbleh

    @Geminid: ok, so let’s say Alabama tells the SC for the third time “fk off, we’ll use our own map, and you can’t make us use yours.”  Some further litigation ensues, state officials are hit with various sanctions — fines, maybe even jail time — and then …?

    If this turns into a battle between Heroic Sons and Daughters of Alabama versus the big bad Woke Feds, I could see them going full martyr and crowdsourcing the funds to pay the fines.  And the clock keeps ticking, and then they argue “it’s too late to change things.”

    As noted above, I can’t see them sending in the Army (or nationalizing the Guard, or whatever), nor would it be clear exactly what they’d do.  About all I can come up with is either (1) declare results of any election using forbidden maps as null and void, and therefore any Congress-critters so elected as ineligible, and therefore any laws passed in which they made the difference being presumptively invalid (all of which would create a lot of Constitutional litigation), or (2) federalizing the election: taking it over from the state and running it with the new map, which would require a lot of effort and likely would subject poll workers to threats of violence all over the state.

    It’s a mess.  This is what happens when you’re dealing with people manifesting ODD rather than rational adults…

  96. 96.

    lamh36

    What’s up BJ peeps.

    Stopping by on my break to check what’s going on.

    We moved our entire lab to a new space last week and we are all still adjusting to new spaces and workflows…so it’s been hectic as hell.

    On top of that,  I finally had my interview for an Associate Professor position at my MedTech alma mater on Monday.  I can’t share more details later but it went well I think.  Now we wait.

    Also,  I forgot my OTR pics were going up today so I’m sorry I didn’t respond to any comments.  I have tons of pics and eventually I’ll put them on my personal blog as well.

    I’m working on the Japan post sometime this week to submit to Watergirl for OTR.  You’ll love those I think

    alright  breaks over…see u on the flip side!

  97. 97.

    Paul in KY

    @randy khan: I would say the Federal Court having that jurisdiction has by now a pretty good idea of how to fix another African American majority district.

  98. 98.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Unless someone joined him, he wouldn’t be able to give us worse than a 50/50. Then we still have Madame Vice President

    ETA: Who in the Senate wants to give control to the Republicans because they’re angry about their good friend Bob’s corruption allegations.

    ETA: Seems like would be bad optics for the Republicans going into an election year and fatally bad for Menendez and whatever such friend. But what do I know?

  101. 101.

    narya

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: And here’s the thing: it is in HIS interests to use resignation or whatever as a bargaining chip in the legal proceedings, if he can. I think he’s corrupt scum, which probably means he’s less likely to resign because of his own “shame” (he clearly has none). I do wish he would, mind you, but if it’s his only bargaining chip (if it is one), he’d be dumb not to play it.

  102. 102.

    smith

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m pretty sure that the Dem governor of NJ would quickly name a replacement. The governor is among those calling for Menendez’ resignation, and I bet he’s already got some ideas for a replacement in mind.

  103. 103.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @sdhays:

    Last I looked, nonentity Tina Smith has not called on Gold Bars Bob to resign. I also note the Moral Guidepost Kirsten is similarly quiet.

  105. 105.

    bbleh

    @Paul in KY: effectively that’s what they’re doing — the court appointed a special master who drew up 3 maps from which the court will choose, and that will be “binding”: Alabama, thou shalt use this map and no other.

    My question is, what happens if Kay Ivey says “John Roberts has made his decision, now let him enforce it”

    I reeeely hope someone at DOJ has thought about this …

  106. 106.

    Bill Arnold

    @The Kropenhagen Interpretation:
    Have you familiarized yourself with Comer’s
    House Oversight Committee anti-Biden “evidence”? That at least would be some foundation to work with.
    (1) Biden family means Hunter Biden, for anything substantive.
    (2) Biden family associates means Hunter Biden’s business associates.
    (3) Much of the material about Biden maybe kinda not sure meeting with (or not meeting with, not clear in some cases) Hunter Biden’s business associates are from after the Obama presidency. Literally no corruption possible 2017(post Jan 20)/2018/2019/2020.
    (4) There is an FBI report about an alleged interview with a Ukrainian oligarch (allegedly involved in corruption) () that implies bribes to JB. Not under oath; no reason to consider that it has any information value at all, without corroborating evidence, which Comer does not show.

  108. 108.

    Jay

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    Certain nations are finding out that at some point in the past, the Russian Orthodox Church struck a deal, first with the Soviet Security State, later the Ruzzian Security State, (and it may be even older than that), to regain the privileges and status they had under the Tsar’s, by serving as an auxiliary arm of the State.

    So priests were spies and Churches were armories and Forts.

    The power of confession meant that you could unburden your soul of your sins and after penance, “be right with God”. Meanwhile, the priest updated your file and forwarded copies to Moscow.

    Because the Russian Orthodox Church was dominant in Orthodoxy, that allowed the subversion of other Orthodox branches in other nations as we are seeing today.

  109. 109.

    trollhattan

    @HumboldtBlue: How dare she earn billions while Donald Trump merely spends them? How dare she encourage the yoots to register to vote? How dare she [checks notes] date a popular football player?

    Stuff like that?

  110. 110.

    Jeffro

    And what does this latest victory tell us, Ds?  KEEP POUNDING!!

    When we fight, we win.  (And fighting corruption in all its forms feels better anyway   =)

  111. 111.

    Paul in KY

    @bbleh: I don’t think Gov. Ivey is a MAGA nutwad. She’s a GQPer, with  nutwad MAGA voters, but she (as an executive) probably feels like you have to accede to the rule of law at some point (I would hope).

    Is she up for re-election?

  113. 113.

    trollhattan

    Pro tip: maybe next time don’t laud an actual Nazi in front of and on behalf of your government.

    The Speaker of Canada’s House of Commons has resigned after praising a Ukrainian man who fought for a Nazi unit and inviting him to parliament.

    After first resisting calls to step down, Anthony Rota quit on Tuesday after meeting with party leaders in Ottawa.

    “I must step down as your Speaker,” he said in Parliament. “I reiterate my profound regret.”

    I’ll bet.

  115. 115.

    The Kropenhagen Interpretation

    @Bill Arnold: I’m not familiar with Comer’s committee per se. But I’m familiar with the material you discussed there. I’ve been waiting for something new, however spurious as the rest.

    I suppose it’s been long enough that I could use a refresher. Republicans are apt to beat on the same broken drum even over a decade. Too lazy for new content.

  116. 116.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Jay:

    The Russian Orthodox Church SERIOUSLY sucks. They’ve been the conduit for the worst assholes to start screwing up the most fun aspects of Orthodoxy in America.

  117. 117.

    bbleh

    @Paul in KY: not up til ’26, and can be re-elected only once.

    And I sure hope you’re right about her, and that she has (and feels she has) the power to take a decision and make it stick.  But so far she seems to have been pretty hands-off, and she’s let the lege and whatever elections board it is take the lead.

  118. 118.

    Eolirin

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Something the right is going to have to grapple with is that the current mood in America is one in which the majority of people would look at that Trump quote and respond, “Good, they should be”.

  119. 119.

    Jay

    @trollhattan:

    The Speaker’s job in the House is basically three fold.

    Ceremonial and Formal,

    Neutral Referee,

    Judge.

    Dude screwed up by not doing his Office’s due diligence, and it’s not the first time. Past screw ups barely made it outside Ottawa, (Policy and Procedure rulings), but this one went round the globe and was a bit embarrassing.

  120. 120.

    trollhattan

    @HumboldtBlue: ​
    Ah, the old “you’re not the boss of me, purportedly hawt blonde” double-reverse. And to my knowledge, she’s also written zero songs extolling good old-fashioned lynching so fails there, too. What a loser she must be.

    I wonder (not really) what his Beyonce thoughts are?

  124. 124.

    Sister Golden Bear

    While we’re on the subject of Republican fuckery.

    A reminder from Erin in the Morning

    Republicans hate trans people so much that they’re willing to shut down the government over it. When the government shuts down, know that it’s happening in part because Republicans want anti-trans policies in their budget bill and have declared this a “red line.”

  126. 126.

    wjca

    @bbleh:  or (2) federalizing the election: taking it over from the state and running it with the new map, which would require a lot of effort and likely would subject poll workers to threats of violence all over the state.

    I expect that’s exactly what they will do.  Down to providing poll workers if necessary.  Sure, it would be an effort.  Possibly a huge effort.  But consider the alternative.  So it will get done, whatever it takes.

  127. 127.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    @SenGillibrand

    joins growing number of Senate Dems calling on Sen. Bob Menendez to resign: “I share Sen. Booker’s views that [Sen. Menendez] should step down.”

    And she she held out on Franken much longer!

    It took Gillibrand twenty days after the scandal broke to call for Franken to step down and four for her to call for Menendez to step down, so all the weirdos trying to paint her as a hypocrite for not doing the latter can STFU now.

  129. 129.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Jay:

    Fox News and its trusty dipshit Brian Kilmeade absolutely decimated that Russo-Republican conspiracy theory this weekend..

    That this happened so shortly after reports that Rupert hates Trump makes me wonder if we will see more ‘slips’ like this.

  131. 131.

    Alce_e _ ardillo

    @kindness: Exactly. It is OK to be a corrupt sleazebag of a Supreme Court Justice. But it is emphatically NOT OK to be shown to be corrupt sleazebag SC justices.

  132. 132.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: along those lines, I was struck by Matt Goetz’s response to Cassidy Hutchinson’s reports of his creeping on her, even at Camp David– Gaetz was a guest at Camp David, think of that— that he had no recollection of those events

  133. 133.

    Jay

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    It’s a Con thing in Canada, but you can’t do it live on the floor of the House, in front of thousands and then blame Staff or a hack.

    Any refugee of certain conflict ages needs to be carefully vetted before giving them a “shout out”. We have lots of people in Canada of questionable ties, questionable pasts who made it to Canada, often for political reasons.

    And in regards to the RuZZian War On Ukraine, there are lot’s of people who you can give a shout out to, from Canadians serving with the TDF and UA, Canadians working for aid organizations, Canadians fundraising, Canadians helping refugees.

    Saint Javelin was founded and is run out of Toronto.

  136. 136.

    Roger Moore

    @Uncle Cosmo:

    I posted here that IMO any spiritual movement that chooses to seek and hold temporal power risks losing its spirituality and devolving to an unspiritual means of controlling people.

    The problem is it’s very easy to move from instructing people on how to live their lives and forcing people to live that way.  The temptation to use temporal power that way is always there, and it’s apparently very hard for a lot of religions to resist.

  138. 138.

    Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony

    @Jay:

    Maybe it was just shoddy. Maybe pushing a right-wing conspiracy while interviewing people you know will contradict it is the only way to undermine the MAGA narrative with people who have already bought into it.

  139. 139.

    wjca

    @Roger Moore: The problem is it’s very easy to move from instructing people on how to live their lives and forcing people to live that way.  The temptation to use temporal power that way is always there, and it’s apparently very hard for a lot of religions to resist.

    If you are a true believer, it can be hard to avoid the idea that it is a moral imperative for you to get them to behave the way your religion mandates.  But whatever means necessary — the ends justifying the means.

  141. 141.

    Jay

    @Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony:

    The Faux Bot’s live in an unreality of their own making, and I am not referring to the reprogrammable meatbags that watch, but instead the Staff.

    Pretty sure that they thought getting Porshenko on, now that he’s “in Opposition”, he would confirm all their CT. That’s what a ReThug would do, true or not.

    I don’t think it once sunk into their little tiny brains that when RuZZia invaded again, that Porshenko left his office, put on body armour, picked up an AK, raised his on militia and took to the streets of Kyiv to defend Ukraine along with tens of thousands of other irregulars

    I doubt that watching the interview will change any MAGAt’s heads. Hell, Faux running a constant stream of “sorry, we have been lying to you for decades, please buy from our Goldbug sponsors” would just get them to change the channel to OAN or NewsMax.

  142. 142.

    Bill Arnold

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg:

    The Russian Orthodox Church SERIOUSLY sucks.

    Worse than “sucks”, even SERIOUSLY. Evil.
    Blessing Bombs, Putin’s Altar Boy, and Twisting Russian Orthodoxy to Sanctify Nuclear War – Why the Russian Orthodox Church is blessing nuclear weapons in a once-atheistic society (Cathleen Falsani, July 6, 2022)

    Blessing warheads has been a practice, if mainly outside the public eye, at least since the second war in Chechnya in the 2000s, Chapnin said. “Now, it is a kind of regular thing, accepted both by the church and by the Russian military.”

  146. 146.

    Dan B

    @Sister Golden Bear:  This anti-trans fuckery reminds me of the Joe McCarthy nightmare under Eisenhower.  Homosexuals were pedophiles because they don’t reproduce so must recruit.  And they can be blackmailed so communists can manipulate them.

    Zero facts or logic.  If they can’t be fired for being gay then there’s no blackmail.  Duh!

  149. 149.

    Ben Cisco

    Late to the party 🎉

    The AL GOP, even among stupid GOPers, are a little extra. They will keep trying to defy. They will have to absorb an even stronger rebuke before they get it.

  150. 150.

    RevRick

    @UncleEbeneezer: As important as the Senators lining up to ask Menendez to resign, it’s what NJ Democrats are saying that really matters. And already 10 of 21 County chairs are telling him to step down. And with Andy Kim vowing to primary him, he has a credible opponent who will have party backing.

    Menendez is a dead man walking.

  151. 151.

    Geminid

    @RevRick: I think there is a good chance Rep. Mikie Sherill will enter the primary as well.

    I also think that Menendez will be off the board by the time New Jersey Democrats vote next year.

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