Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Roe is not about choice. It is about freedom.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

Yeah, with this crowd one never knows.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Every reporter and pundit should have to declare if they ever vacationed with a billionaire.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Never give a known liar the benefit of the doubt.

Oppose, oppose, oppose. do not congratulate. this is not business as usual.

The world has changed, and neither one recognizes it.

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

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

An almost top 10,000 blog!

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

This country desperately needs a functioning fourth estate.

That meeting sounds like a shotgun wedding between a shitshow and a clusterfuck.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

This really is a full service blog.

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

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

Hey hey, RFK, how many kids did you kill today?

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

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

T R E 4 5 O N

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: This and That, Hanging Tough and Fighting Back

Open Thread: This and That, Hanging Tough and Fighting Back

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This post is in: 

Do they even listen to themselves??  In case you missed it, this is surely in response to the DOJ investigation of Rep. Bush for possible spending violates  related to her security.

.

Fighting back. In social media.

Fighting back. With appointed judges.

This is great!  I would also like to see the stats on this for Trump appointed judges.

Fighting back. In the courts.

It’s not just North Carolina. Even Tennessee (!) followed the law when the courts ruled against them. Unlike, say, Ohio, that along with other states has given the middle finger to court rulings.

Fighting back. With legislation.

Rape is rape. (Mother Jones)

On Tuesday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation broadening the state’s definition of rape, eliminating the penile penetration requirement. The bill, “Rape Is Rape,” expands the law to include nonconsensual anal, oral, and vaginal sexual contact. Starting in September, New York will be like many other states: The penal code will not limit rape to only forced vaginal penetration by a penis.

That narrow definition of rape has been key in the legal battle between E. Jean Carroll and former president Donald Trump. Last year, Carroll sued Trump, saying that he had raped her in 1996 and then defamed her by denying the accusations. (She was able to do so because of another bill that Gov. Hochul signed into law—the Adult Survivors Act, which granted victims a one-time window in New York to file a civil case against an abuser or institution that protected the abuser, regardless of when the assault took place.)

I have to say that I am shocked to find that the penal code in NY was so archaic. And I say that as someone who worked for a rape crisis service decades ago. We may have come a long way (baby) but we sure as hell haven’t come far enough.

I keep wondering, could E. Jean have brought this case – for rape and sexual assault – against Trump if it weren’t for the law in NY that gave adults one year to file rape charges regardless of the time of the attack? Obviously she could have sued him for defamation (like in this recent 2nd case that was really case #1), but for sexual assault. I haven’t seen anything connecting the dots between the E. Jean Carroll case and this new law, but it sure seems to me that they are connected.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

125Comments

  1. 1.

    Baud

    It’s not just North Carolina. Even Tennessee (!) followed the law when the courts ruled against them.

    And Louisiana.

  2. 2.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    I have to say that I am shocked to find that the penal code in NY was so archaic.

    I recall a scene from the Broadway production of 1776. It’s theater of course, so not a strict report. Time after time in the meetings of representatives votes are taken and “New York abstains.” Eventually the representative gets questioned and replies, “have you ever been to a meeting of the New York State legislature?” The audience roared with laughter.

    There is a big difference between New York City and “upstate.”

  6. 6.

    dmsilev

    My understanding of the Carroll lawsuits is that the only reason he was able to escape the rape accusation was the very very restrictive definition of rape in the New York law at the time. So, good that that problem is being resolved.

  9. 9.

    Suzanne

    I have been horrified to hear about this case in Levittown, PA, in which a man decapitated his father (who worked for the federal government) and posted a video of it on YouTube. The man apparently “started going off the rails in college” and had fallen into conspiracy theories and revolution fantasies.

  10. 10.

    UncleEbeneezer

    I have to say that I am shocked to find that the penal code in NY was so archaic. And I say that as someone who worked for a rape crisis service decades ago. We may have come a long way (baby) but we sure as hell haven’t come far enough.

    Another good (horrible) example is the fact that thirty-three states allow someone to use an “LGBTQ Panic” defense in court:

    The so-called “gay and trans panic” defenses are legal strategies which, according to the American Bar Association, “seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction.” Research by the Williams Institute shows that “no state recognizes gay and trans panic defenses as freestanding defenses under their respective penal codes,” but defendants have used panic defenses in conjunction with other defense strategies to attempt to reduce the severity of their charges or sentencing.

    Think about that. Crimes fueled by LGB(especially)T-phobia, up to and including murder can get less punishment because of the bigotry of the perpetrator.

  11. 11.

    coin operated

    @dmsilev:

    My understanding of the Carroll lawsuits is that the only reason he was able to escape the rape accusation was the very very restrictive definition of rape in the New York law at the time.

    And then the judge determined, after the sexual assault ruling, that the assault met the technical definition of rape and that Carroll was not defaming Trump by calling it rape.

    Still glad they fixed this…

  12. 12.

    Lapassionara

    I’m pretty sure the dots between the special one-year to file law and the second E.Jean Carroll case, the one that ended up being tried first, are connected. I don’t recall the name of the lawyer representing Trump in that case, and I don’t remember seeing anything about an appeal of the jury’s verdict in that case. But once the jury found that Trump sexually assaulted her, and once that was either unappealed or upheld on appeal, Trump was barred from legally contesting it

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    @Suzanne: That was appalling to hear about. And of course it raises the obvious question of how many more fanatics are out there, their minds poisoned by the same propaganda and lies.

    Not a cheery thought.

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Reading the replies to Melanie Zanona I come away with one thought only: How stupid can a white person be? My calculations add up “to infinity and beyond!”

  16. 16.

    RaflW

    Saw yesterday that not at all moderate Susan Collins has voted against 50+ judicial appointments. These are qualified, capable people who deserve decency.

    She signals her total capture by hyper-partisan MAGA obstruction bullshit (thankfully, her yes vote isn’t needed, but she belies her curated ‘thoughtful’ image).

  17. 17.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud:

    It’s not just North Carolina. Even Tennessee (!) followed the law when the courts ruled against them.

    And Louisiana.

    F’n RINOs.

  20. 20.

    Suzanne

    @dmsilev: I don’t want to make too much of his politics, because it is very clear from the reading about the case that he genuinely is severely mentally ill and has been for some years. But he seems to have been swimming around in the fetid fever swamps of race resentment, according to what I read about it.

    There are so many people who struggle, and these grievance-mongering assholes attract them. Instead of helping.

  23. 23.

    Mike in NC

    Per the local rag, a white couple in the town of Conway, South Carolina (trust me, it’s a real shithole) are accused of burning a cross near the home of a nearby black couple. What year is this and who’s the leader of the Republican Party?

  24. 24.

    lowtechcyclist

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    Think about that. Crimes fueled by LGB(especially)T-phobia, up to and including murder can get less punishment because of the bigotry of the perpetrator.

    That’s insane, and horrible.

  26. 26.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Mike in NC: ​ 

    They seem nice.

    CONWAY, S.C. (WMBF) – A couple accused of burning a cross just feet from the home of their Black neighbors could be forced to leave their home.

    Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson filed a petition last week requesting that a judge grant a temporary injunction against the home of Worden Butler and Alexis Hartnett.

    The petition cites that the home is a nuisance because it has a reputation for continuous breaches of peace.

    Documents show the couple moved into the home along Corbett Drive around Jan. 1, 2021.

  28. 28.

    Bugboy

    RE: Tom Cotton, the bobble-throated slap-dick from Arkansas is a Harvard graduate (which we now know isn’t saying much about the mental chops of a Senator) who knows the meaning of the words “Singapore is a sovereign country”.  You know who doesn’t know the meaning of those words?  His constituents/fans/cult followers.  See also: the use of  the term “systematic racism” when criticizing efforts to expose “systemic racism”.  Words have meaning, and these motherfuckers are counting on voter ignorance to gain power.

  30. 30.

    oldgold

    A Priest, Minister and Rabbit walk into a blood drive. A nurse asks the Rabbit, “What type blood do you have?” The Rabbit says, “I am pretty sure I am a type O.”

  33. 33.

    Scout211

    I haven’t seen anything connecting the dots between the E. Jean Carroll case and this new law, but it sure seems to me that they are connected.

    The interview of Roberta Kaplan in Politico Magazine I posted downstairs speaks to E. Jean Carroll’s motivation for filing a lawsuit against Trump. Kaplan says that it was Trump’s defamation of her character that prompted her to sue. So many women came forward over the years with their own stories of unwanted sexual attacks by Trump that she said if he had made a “blanket” denial like Les Moonves did (Carroll also was one of the many women  Moonves inappropriately touched) she would not have sued Trump. But Trump singled her out to destroy her reputation.

    She went back into the department store with Trump because she thought she would get a funny store to tell her writer friends. I think that may have also influenced her decision (not stated but implied in the interview).

    So however we feel about it, she was not motivated to charge him with sexual assault.  She was motivated by the damage to her reputation.

    ETA: corrections

  35. 35.

    Baud

    @UncleEbeneezer:

    no state recognizes gay and trans panic defenses as freestanding defenses under their respective penal codes,” but defendants have used panic defenses in conjunction with other defense strategies to attempt to reduce the severity of their charges or sentencing.

     
    This is meaningless. A defendant can ask for almost anything. See the old saw about seeking leniency as an orphan because one murdered one’s parents.

  37. 37.

    Leto

    @Mike in NC: Conway… a good portion of my mother’s side of the family is still there. I’m glad my parents understand why we didn’t come back to SC, even if it does make them sad that we’re so far away.

  44. 44.

    FastEdD

    We can look at conspiracy theories as absurd ideas to poke fun at, as in “tinfoil hat.” I’ve been reading in several places lately that people who go off into conspiracy land are people who can’t deal with reality and start making things up. I can see that in some of my friends. I’m a retired science teacher who doesn’t believe in making things up. It is lazy thinking, I know, but maybe it isn’t always a subject of derision.

    One friend of mine for 50 years has gone off the deep end about Gaza. She cares about the Palestinians so much she can’t think or talk about anything else. I care about them too, but I care about many things. The atrocities there are terrible. But, but, she can’t cope with the fact that Hamas did what it did on October 7th. She insists it was all fake, or AI or something. She’d rather make up something than acknowledge reality and she’s gone off the deep end. I can’t talk to her about anything else. She’s not stupid-she has an earned doctorate-but she has to make something up rather than deal with it.

    I know another guy who can’t deal with Jan. 6th and makes up anti-government fantasies because he is so emotionally invested in right wing thinking he can’t bear to change his outlook to fit reality. He’s not very smart, she is, but both of them are so disconnected from the world I have a hard time even speaking with them. It’s sad. You don’t have to agree with me about every little thing to be my friend, but you do need to be connected to the real world or we can’t even talk about what a nice day it is.

  46. 46.

    Baud

    @FastEdD:

    Yeah, for some reason, it feels like more people are having difficulty processing circumstances and events. Or maybe it’s  the Internet is giving them greater voice and/or greater numbers. It’s weird.

  47. 47.

    Bugboy

    @FastEdD: The worst lies are the ones we tell ourselves, as the saying goes.  I have nearly an entire workforce of 18 with overt MAGA sympathies.  I work within the Environmental Management Department otherwise staffed with a bunch of tree huggers, so my Division stands out, and not in a good way.

  49. 49.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @coozledad: ​
     

    Wow, a blast from the past, the Tarantul. I “covered” them as part of the old Warsaw Pact navy forces back in the late 80s when I worked for naval intelligence.

    Hadn’t thought of them in decades but then the war there is dredging up all kinds of memories of Russian naval vessels from that phase in life.

  50. 50.

    rikyrah

    How much of this went to his legal fees?

    BWA HA HA AH AH AHA HA

    \

    Rob Pyers (@rpyers) posted at 10:38 PM on Wed, Jan 31, 2024:
    The Republican National Committee’s year-end filing reveals it had its worst fundraising year since 2013 in absolute dollars and its worst since 1993 in inflation-adjusted figures.

    It raised $87.2M, spent $93.5M, and had just $8M on hand and $1.8m in debt. t.co/QByea9v5d5
    (https://x.com/rpyers/status/1752914377395851642?t=zQ8nBuJZpiIa2R4Z3Zw1pg&s=03)

  52. 52.

    HumboldtBlue

    BRUSSELS (AP) — The leaders of the 27 European Union countries sealed a deal on Thursday to provide Ukraine with a new 50 billion-euro ($54 billion) support package for its war-ravaged economy after Hungary backed down from its threats to veto the move.

    European Council President Charles Michel announced the agreement that was reached in the first hour of a summit that he was chairing in Brussels.

    “We have a deal,” Michel said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. He said the agreement “locks in steadfast, long-term, predictable funding for Ukraine,” and demonstrated that the “EU is taking leadership and responsibility in support for Ukraine; we know what is at stake.”

    Orban took a look at his economy and decided that watching the EU boycott his country and target the economy wasn’t such a good idea after all.

  54. 54.

    rikyrah

    Did we already discuss the Delaware courts voiding Apartheid Clyde’s $56 Billion Dollar Compensation package?

    BWA HA HA HA AH AH HA AHA HA

  62. 62.

    FastEdD

    Assholes With Casseroles has a nice ring to it.

    ——- With Hot Dishes. There has to be a rhyme there somewhere.

  63. 63.

    Fake Irishman

    Not to defend Collins, but voting against 50 Biden judicial appointments means she’s voted for more than 120 of them.  Judicial confirmation fights have gotten much more partisan over the last few decades, but if there’s any GOP support on she and Lisa Murkoswki are the first two to cross over (both voted for Justice Jackson). Lindsay Graham is the third, and for as obnoxious as he is, he quietly abstained or voted for a lot of Biden appointments in committee during the 50-50 senate, saving a lot of floor time on discharge votes.

    On the other hand, there are a number of GOP senators than vote almost in lockstep against Biden judicial appointees. (Hawley, Paul, Blackburn, Rick Scott, Haggerty, Lee, Vance)

    I’m also not going to all that enthusiastically wave the flag of bipartisanship, but over the last 3-4 months the Biden administration has been able to get a considerable number of district court judges confirmed in red states after negotiating successfully with GOP senators.  They aren’t the liberal lions we’d love, but they are solid folks with good legal careers, not MAGA, believe in the rule of law,  and a considerable number of them are racial or ethnic minorities, women, and one who just got appointed in Texas is LGBTQ (first one in the state)

    That makes a difference.

  67. 67.

    smith

    @rikyrah: And TFG’s PACs are now doling out more for legal fees than they’re taking in. So not only does TFG starve the rest of the party by sweeping up all the small donors, he’s falling behind himself. And he’s still got a campaign to somehow pay for.

  69. 69.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @lowtechcyclist:  I’m torn.  Yes, we settled it, but then now Texas gets the border issue and will have to staff it themselves, and the Feds close and remove all equipment from the five military bases and the National Guard in Texas, NASA is gone, no more money for Space X, Nikki Haley shows how stupid she is, um — I do not see a downside.

  72. 72.

    Jay

    @Cheryl from Maryland:

    Don’t forget that Tex-ass would also have to strike up their own trade deals with the US, NAFTA and everybody else. Diplomatic relations, passports, Customs, etc.

    That’s a heavy lift for a State that can’t keep the lights on.

  74. 74.

    Juju

    @Jackie:   Tuberville is an insult to pencil necks. He’s the intellectual equivalent to a flaming bag of dog poop. He actually may be an insult to flaming bags of dog poop as well.

  76. 76.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Baud: It’s not meaningless at all.  The definition of what a jury may consider “reasonable” is determined by law, and juries are explicitly told what they can/can’t consider in their deliberations.  California’s AB-2501 (which has been law for a decade now) reads:

    This bill provides that for the purposes of determining sudden quarrel or heat of passion for voluntary manslaughter, the provocation was not objectively reasonable if it resulted from the discovery of, knowledge about, or potential disclosure of the victim’s or defendant’s actual or perceived gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, including under circumstances in which the victim made an unwanted nonforcible romantic or sexual advance towards the defendant, or if the defendant and victim dated or had a romantic or sexual relationship.

    Every State, can and should pass similar laws.  Otherwise, 33% of the time these bullshit, LGBTQ-phobic defenses are rewarded by juries and help let perpetrators of violence against Queer people, get reduced (or no) punishment.

    2020 research by W. Carsten Andresen, associate professor at St. Edwards University, found that the gay and trans panic defenses were used at least 104 times across 35 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico between 1970 and 2020.

    Charges were reduced for defendants who used the gay and trans panic defenses about one-third of the time (33% of cases).

  77. 77.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Some good news for a change, an Iowa bill to legalize anti-trans discrimination is dead.

    Hundreds of LGBTQ Iowans and their allies packed the Capitol hallways to protest the bill, some draped in transgender flags or wearing purple shirts that said “Don’t legislate hate.”…

    As Iowans testified to lawmakers about the bill’s impact in an emotional hourlong meeting, chants of “trans rights are human rights” filled the room through the closed door….

    Iowa Republicans in recent years have passed a flurry of laws impacting transgender Iowans, including banning transgender youth under 18 from receiving gender-affirming medical care, restricting transgender students from using school bathrooms that align with their gender identity, and banning transgender women and girls from competing in female sports.

  78. 78.

    gene108

    @Baud:

    Yeah, for some reason, it feels like more people are having difficulty processing circumstances and events. Or maybe it’s the Internet is giving them greater voice and/or greater numbers. It’s weird.

    I think the segmentation of information flow – MSM, right-wing media, and especially social media – have lessened our shared social experiences, like everybody watching the Moon Landing or something.

    It’s for people to drift into silos of misinformation and stay there.

  79. 79.

    Jackie

    @Steve in the ATL: Speaking of unions! The video is excellent!

    Montgomery, Ala. — Workers at Hyundai’s sole US plant, in Montgomery, Alabama, have announced a major milestone in their campaign to join the UAW, with over 30 percent of autoworkers at the plant having signed union cards.

    In a new video, “Montgomery Can’t Wait,” Hyundai workers speak out on the ties between the union movement at the Korean automaker and the civil rights legacy of “Montgomery, the city where Rosa Parks sat down, and where thousands of Hyundai workers are ready to Stand Up.”

    The video announcing the campaign can be accessed at uaw.org/hyundai and the media is invited to use the footage.

    The announcement marks the third major breakthrough in the national movement of non-union autoworkers organizing to join the UAW in the wake of the historic Stand Up Strike victory at the Big Three auto companies. Over 10,000 non-union autoworkers have signed union cards in recent months, with public campaigns launched at Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Mercedes in Vance, Alabama, while workers at over two dozen other facilities continue to organize.

    uaw.org/montgomery-cant-wait-hyundai-autoworkers-in-montgomery-alabama-announce-public-campaign-to-j…

  84. 84.

    TBone

    @Alison Rose: it is, except for when he tells me we’re fucked.  Haven’t seen him in a long time though, maybe he’s got better news.  He has his own website where he posts fascinating photos of his study and also of his world travels.  What it’s like to live at the outpost, be on the ice and the ice-breaking ships, etc. Home base is Tromso and his hometown is same as mine, Media, PA. Dude is a serious genius!

    stephenhudson.net/

  85. 85.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Jackie: I wonder how the 12-year olds working at that Hyundai plant will vote!

    The VW plant in Chattanooga voted against unionizing a few years ago, even after VW management told them to support it. Red state life!

  87. 87.

    jimmiraybob

    @coozledad: “The Republicans lost another warship yesterday.”

    While I was hoping that you were linking to an article about Speaker Johnson’s demise – booted from his role by his fellow freedom idiot caucus, it turned out to be about a Russian warship.  I’m guessing I’m not the first to mention this but what the hell, a victory for Ukraine is good.

    Can’t say that I’m completely disappointed.

    Upon further consideration I think that I get it. :)

  93. 93.

    Bugboy

    @Steve in the ATL: The CWA reps here are on a campaign to push back against the recently enacted legislation blocking direct deposit of union dues by employers, among other things.  I listened in on one of their recent presentations, and I’ve been itching ask one of them how they are threading that needle.  They did not have kind words for what the inmates at the Tallahassee Asylum are up to.

  95. 95.

    Jackie

    Kevin is revengeful:

    “Kevin McCarthy is not done trying to exact revenge on the fellow Republicans who ended his Hill career,” Politico reports.

    “After a devastating ejection from the speakership that he spent 16 years pursuing, the California Republican and his allies are mobilizing to oust the eight GOP lawmakers who joined Democrats to depose him.”

    “The McCarthy revenge campaign is ready to marshal the former speaker’s considerable donor network on behalf of Republican primary candidates who are deemed strong enough to pose a credible threat to one of the eight.”

    Three republicans identified so far: Reps. Nancy Mace, Bob Good and Eli Crane.

    I’m sure Kevin also has big fat bullseyes on Gaetz and Tim Burchett (TN) who was allegedly elbowed in the back by Kevin.

    This could be an entertaining side show during the Primaries!

  96. 96.

    Alison Rose

    @lowtechcyclist: It really baffles me that someone can be so fucking homophobic that they think killing a gay person for *maybe possibly* hitting on them is acceptable and right.

    I wish these assholes would take a cue from an ex of mine. A few months after we’d started dating, he told me about a time in college when he’d accidentally ended up on a date with a guy. They were in some extracurricular thing together and got along well, and one day the other guy asked him if he wanted to get dinner after a meeting or something. My ex just thought it was like two buddies grabbing a meal together. Once they got there, he realized…oh, he asked me here as a date. I asked him how he handled it and he shrugged and just said he told the guy something like “Hey, I’m sorry, I think we both might have misread things, I’m straight, but we can still have our meal if you’re up for it” and things went on just fine and they remained friends (probably still are). What he told me was he was flattered by the guy’s attraction to him even if he didn’t return it, just as he would be if a woman flirted with him and he wasn’t into her.

  97. 97.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @Baud:

    This is meaningless. A defendant can ask for almost anything. See the old saw about seeking leniency as anorphan because one murdered one’s parents.

    Not meaningless, since 17 states found the “trans/gay panic defense” to problematic enough to ban it because of trials where defendants got away with killing trans/gay people with minimal punishments.

  98. 98.

    Shalimar

    @Cheryl from Maryland: The problem with letting Texas secede is you go from having a long border with Mexico to having a shorter border with Mexico and a massive weird-shaped border with Texas.  And those fuckers are nuts.

  99. 99.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @rikyrah:

    Filing Shows Trump PAC Down To $5M After Legal Fees

    Donald Trump’s political operation is reeling after spending around $60 million on legal fees pertaining to the four criminal indictments and various ongoing civil lawsuits against him. Save America PAC, Trump’s primary PAC heading into his likely rematch with President Joe Biden, once had over $100 million in the bank.

    Now, it has just a little over $5 million left after spending over $25 million on legal bills in the second half of last year alone. His campaign itself, meanwhile, raised a little over $19 million, but spent over $23.5 million in the latest fundraising period.

  100. 100.

    Bugboy

    @Steve in the ATL: Yeah, funny that’s exactly my take.  Our Finance Division director brought this up in one of our management meetings, going “I have no idea why they are doing this”.  Me, the lowly bug squeezer, has to tell the Master’s in Finance holder (from Upstate NY no less) that Tallahassee doesn’t like unions, and they are putting obstacles in the way of union membership….

  102. 102.

    Eolirin

    @Baud: We’ve also only had unified Democratic control of the state legislature since, I think, 2018.

    NY is redder than people give it credit for. I do expect things will change a lot more quickly now that we actually have what looks like durable control of the law-making process, but we’re going to lag, say, the entire West Coast quite a lot for a good long while.

  106. 106.

    Ruckus

    @Juju:

    He actually may be an insult to flaming bags of dog poop as well.

    He is an insult to flaming bags of dog poop. They at least have 2 positive elements – they give off heat, and they remove dog poop. Sure that they smell of burning dog poop is a negative, but one negative against 2 positives…… And that’s still more positives than he has……

  107. 107.

    Paul in KY

    @FastEdD: Best thing to do is just to do a friendly laugh when they bring up their craziness. Just shake your head and smile in a kind & friendly way and just state the facts: Hamas killed a bunch of people in their Oct 7 attack and the storming of the capital was by TFG fanatics. Said in same tone that you would use to say ‘The sun rises in the East’. ‘The oceans contain salt water.’ etc etc

  109. 109.

    jimmiraybob

    Nikki is going full-tilt, anti-constitutional secessionist boogie*.

    She is now the anti-Lincoln representing the “Party of Lincoln.”  Up is down.  Left is the new right.  Night and day? – I’m sorry she doesn’t see color.

    This comes amid Trump’s call for like-minded states to send their national guard to help Texas rebel against the authority of the US Constitution and constitution-based laws (moving toward Secession No. 2).

    We are now down to one serious political party that will preserve the Union and preserve Lincoln’s legacy.

    *hat tip to Janis Joplin and the Full Tilt Boogie Band

  111. 111.

    UncleEbeneezer

    @Alison Rose: The view that it would be justified to beat up a guy who flirted or hit on you, was distressingly common among boys when I was growing up in the 80’s-90’s.  It was a subject of humor that comedians used in their stand-up routines and in movies and was also mentioned in rap lyrics.  There are definitely Misogynist/LGBTQ-phobic spaces where it still is, even today.  And sadly, I’d wager that most Republican voters still think violent retaliation against LGBTQ people is perfectly or at least, somewhat justified, even if they won’t admit it out loud.

  113. 113.

    Captain C

    @Eolirin:

    We’ve also only had unified Democratic control of the state legislature since, I think, 2018

    No thanks to Cuomo the Lesser.

  114. 114.

    Citizen Alan

    @UncleEbeneezer:  I have always believed that there are actually three different kinds of homophobia:

     Religious Mania. A literal fear that God Hates F**s and will literally punish societies that show tolerance and acceptance of homophobia.
     Internalized Homophobia. An inability to process your own gay or bisexual attractions in a healthy way (often because you were raised by people with Type  1 homophobia). And finally …
     Reverse Misogyny. You are a misogynist thinks that gay men look at you the way you look at women, and you are terrified and disgusted at the idea that other men might view you as a sex object or, worse, someone to prey upon. See also “Prison Rape as a source of humor in pop culture.”

    I have no data to support this, but I would theorize that the sort of straight men who get into situations where they need to raise a “gay panic defense” probably fall under Type 3 and are also the sort of men who would take advantage of women if given the chance.

  116. 116.

    Marc

    @Paul in KY: Just shake your head and smile in a kind & friendly way and just state the facts: Hamas killed a bunch of people in their Oct 7 attack

    I try to avoid discussing this topic here, but it just boggles my mind (and that of a lot of others) that a country with extensive set of border walls, fences, automated machine turrets, nuclear weapons, and some of the most expensive weaponry our country could provide, couldn’t defend its own people against invasion by an irrregular army equipped with homemade rockets, rifles, bulldozers, motorbikes, and paragliders. They had been openly practicing an attack, which was somehow missed (or ignored) by what were reputedly the best intelligence services in the world. Something is very wrong with this picture, and one does not have to descend into conspiracy theories to see that.

  118. 118.

    eversor

    You all are dumb.  Cotton is a Christian.  Thus contradicting him is anti Christian bigotry.  If he wants to light people on fire we support it.  As we aren’t anti Christian bigots.  And yes I WILL support him killing people for Jesus.  If we are going to have Christianity let us do it!

  119. 119.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

     

    @Alison Rose: What he told me was he was flattered by the guy’s attraction to him even if he didn’t return it, just as he would be if a woman flirted with him and he wasn’t into her.

    That’s my reaction. On the rare occasions when I was hit on by a gay guy, I considered it a sign that I was unusually well-groomed, above my typical standard. Typically right after a haircut.

    The fact that it’s only happened a handful of times reveals something about my attention to appearance.

  122. 122.

    Paul in KY

    @Marc: They were all in the Left Bank helping the asshole settlers steal Palestinian land. Also, maybe Netanyahoo was going the PNAC route and was going to let it happen, so they could use it as a great pretext to stomp the crap out of the Gazans (Hamas supporters and Hamas haters alike).

  123. 123.

    Hamlet of Melnibone

    Unwanted sexual attention from either men or women has never really been a problem I’ve faced.  :)

    I was generally well-liked by both sexes when I was younger, but it was an extremely rare person who actually wanted to hit that. It was certainly never a big fear of mine :)

  124. 124.

    YY_Sima Qian

    The clip from the Senate TikTok hearing is blowing up on Chinese social media, as well as among Singaporeans. Way to undermine US soft power, Sen. Cotton! & his line of questioning is not any better even if the TikTok CEO is in fact a declared Chinese national, & not Singaporean

    & that’s why I am generally uncomfortable w/ the line of argument that “not all Asians are Chinese”. Absolutely true, but does that mean it is OK to badger people who are from the PRC, or whose parents/grandparents came from the PRC? That the suspicions against them somehow more justified?

  125. 125.

    YY_Sima Qian

    @YY_Sima Qian: As an illustration of what I mean, the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party recently held a hearing that touched up on new battery plants being built in the US by Chinese companies or licensing Chinese technology, Leon Panetta, Bill Evanina appeared along side Mike Pompeo.

    On the subject of a plant being built by Gotion in Michigan, supported by Michigan Dems, Panetta’s response:

    “There’s a Chinese company [@Gotion48660] building an EV battery plant in my district — they plan to bring 15-20 Chinese nationals to Michigan… What are the odds [they] engage in espionage?”-@RepMoolenaar

    “I don’t think there’s any question.” – Fmr. Defense Sec. Panetta

    Same question posed to Bill Evanina.

    @RepMoolenaar explained that a CCP-backed battery firm [@Gotion48660] has planned to build a factory in his district. “Is it basically a guarantee that some of the people who come from China to work on this project will spy for the CCP?” – @RepMoolenaar

    “100%” – @BillEvanina

    On the proposed Ford battery plant, licensing CATL technology:

    Former SECDEF Leon Panetta echoes the testimony of @BillEvanina on 26 July 2023, in which he said the likelihood of PRC nationals working within @Ford @catl_official “deals” is 100%.

    We are talking about plants making batteries, something Chinese companies have built a commanding lead in both capacity & technology, something critical to the energy transition & addressing AGW, & something the US is desperately trying to build its own supply chain for. The tech transfer is going from the PRC to the US. What would these Chinese workers coming to the US to build the battery plants spying on? Just how far behind the US has become in this area?

    So you have a Dem foreign policy grandee & a former senior natsec “technocrat” both echoing the worst “Red Scare/Yellow Peril” talking points of the nativist/reactionary GOP, insinuating that all Chinese nationals are potential security threats.

    Meanwhile, Chinese students coming to the US for study & Chinese scholars coming to the US for academic exchanges are getting harassed upon entry by the CBP, being questioned for hours under the most intense jackbooted bullying, & sometimes having their visa voided w/o explanation. Now, in retaliation, the PRC government is harassing some of the American scholars entering the country, too.

    All of this “Red Scare/Yellow Peril” fear mongering will not just affect Chinese nationals in the US, but also Chinese Americans, & Asian Americans in general, as we have already seen since the start of the pandemic. It is not just the GOP that is trafficking such garbage.

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