Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I thought we could use a little good news after this morning’s nightmarish rulings.
“Lock him up! Lock him up!” — Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene are trying to hold a news conference right now and it’s not going well pic.twitter.com/5AvgXGcqxM
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 1, 2024
Just something to brighten your day…
Open thread
If you want to follow along on SCOTUSblog.
I’ll copy the short summaries as each one shows up on their website.
Are we going to need another one of these this week?
Here we go!
In Corner Post, Inc. v. Board of Governors, the court holds that a claim under the Administrative Procedure Act to challenge an agency action first comes into being when the plaintiff is injured by final agency action.
OPINION: 6-3 Result: NOT GOOD
The court vacates both decisions on Texas and Florida’s social media laws, in Moody v. NetChoice, LLC and NetChoice v. Paxton, explaining that neither of the lower courts properly considered the nature of the First Amendment challenges.
OPINION: Result:
In Trump v. United States, the court holds that a former president has absolute immunity for his core constitutional powers.
OPINION: Result:
Supreme Court Decisions Again Today at 10 am (7/1 Edition)Post + Comments (476)
Good thing it’s a short work week (for most of us); actual hanabi (‘fire flowers’) beat on-line fireworks six days out of five, IMO. (Heard the first burst of a professional show somewhere in the neighborhood last night, and expect more through the next seven to ten days.)
If we want to protect our fundamental freedoms and democracy, then we need to re-elect @JoeBiden and @KamalaHarris. pic.twitter.com/LTz5wsJOcQ
— Gretchen Whitmer (@gretchenwhitmer) June 30, 2024
Sharing is caring:
This article and thread is a great reminder that red state Dems don't give a shit about playing politics like fantasy football. They put up with so much GOP governance bullshit and it's our duty to get them a Dem president so that at least one person has their back https://t.co/rJ6lucSEEo
— The okayest poster there is (@ok_post_guy) June 30, 2024
Parties and protests mark the culmination of LGBTQ+ Pride month in NYC, San Francisco and beyond https://t.co/39XAD1zlNc
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 30, 2024
Monday Morning Open Thread: Back to the Normie WorldPost + Comments (332)
Very important question: How did it get to be July already???
We start the week in Costa Rica with Albatrossity and then spend the rest of the week in the Cascade Loop with Paul B. It’s a lovely series, but I don’t want to spend them all at once, so if you have been thinking of submitting some pics, this would be the perfect time!
This should be the penultimate batch of pics from Costa Rica; there will be one more set next week and then we will go back to less exotic birds from Flyover Country. As in previous installments, birds which were lifers for me are tagged with an asterisk. Enjoy!
On The Road – Albatrossity – Costa Rica — Week 5Post + Comments (11)
One of the fun parts of birding outside your home patch is observing birds that might be quite different, plumage-wise and even taxonomically, from the birds you see every day, but who are behaving like those more familiar birds. This *Sooty-capped Chlorospingus (Chlorospingus pileatus) reminded me ever so much of the Tufted Titmouses I see every day in my back yard. Noisy, gregarious, curious, and extremely active, this member of the sparrow tribe has a very restricted range in the highlands of Costa Rica and neighboring Panama. Formerly known as bush-tanagers (and the account for this species at the Birds of the World website still uses that name), recent research has resulted in their reclassification in the Passerellidae, the family that includes the sparrows that are familiar to North American birders. So they are not closely related to the titmouse, even though their behavior is very similar. Click here for larger image.
A party that's won the popular vote once since 1988 is running a convicted felon for president? And it's the other guys who are in trouble?
— Charles P. Pierce (@CharlesPPierce) June 30, 2024
Our Editorial Board, which operates independently from our newsroom, weighs in on the state of the 2024 election. https://t.co/OQ9LohEoxA
— The Philadelphia Inquirer (@PhillyInquirer) June 29, 2024
This has been circulating all over social media, for good reason. I may have to buy a subscription to the Philadelphia Inquirer, if I can get the robot to take my money:
…[L]ost in the hand wringing was Donald Trump’s usual bombastic litany of lies, hyperbole, bigotry, ignorance, and fear mongering. His performance demonstrated once again that he is a danger to democracy and unfit for office.
In fact, the debate about the debate is misplaced. The only person who should withdraw from the race is Trump.
Trump, 78, has been on the political stage for eight years marked by chaos, corruption, and incivility. Why go back to that?
To build himself up, Trump constantly tears the country down. There is no shining city on the hill. It’s just mourning in America…
After scheming to overturn the 2020 election, Trump refused to say if he would accept the results of the 2024 election. Unless, of course, he wins.
The debate served as a reminder of what another four years of Trump would look like. More lies, grievance, narcissism, and hate. Supporters say they like Trump because he says whatever he thinks. But he mainly spews raw sewage.
Trump attacks the military. He denigrates the Justice Department and judges. He belittles the FBI and the CIA. He picks fights with allies and cozies up to dictators…
Biden has surrounded himself with experienced people who take public service seriously. He has passed major bipartisan legislation despite a dysfunctional Republican House majority.
Biden believes in the best of America. He has rebuilt relationships with allies around the world and stood up to foes like Russia and China.
There was only one person at the debate who does not deserve to be running for president. The sooner Trump exits the stage, the better off the country will be.
Stark Grey Dawn Open Thread: Drop Out, DJTPost + Comments (73)
Anything but talk of Biden stepping down.
What do you want to talk about that isn’t that?
.@speakerpelosi: "I'm not abandoning Joe Biden right now for any speculation… So while the intelligentsia may have some analysis of what people are thinking, what we're hearing that people are thinking is they support the ticket and I support the ticket." pic.twitter.com/lsByx3blex
— Inside with Jen Psaki (@InsideWithPsaki) June 30, 2024
1/It’s possible the best option is Biden steps aside. But I think it’s more likely that would make things worse. I see lots of people saying Biden needs to step aside, I see almost nobody explaining what happens next & why that would be better
Bad vs not-bad doesn’t exist… https://t.co/aQVffEvfE3
— Dana Houle (@DanaHoule) June 30, 2024
2/…in this situation. It’s about bad vs worse.
Not bad RE Biden’s performance; his performance has been stellar. Top ten President-caliber. And not certain that he’ll decline so badly he can’t effectively perform the duties of the office. Just bad that he’s 81. That’s old…
3/ Actuarial tables are real things. Few people stave off significant decline in their 80’s. Of course it’s no certainty that being younger guarantees good health; I can attest to how being in excellent shape & decades younger than Biden is no protection from life-threatening…
4/…illness & disease. 8 years ago I was in better physical condition than Joe Biden. Today he’s probably in better condition than me.
But this dilemma didn’t arise last Thursday. It was a risk the entire time. (Note that had she won in 2016 & again in 2020 Hillary Clinton…
5/…would be 77 at the end of her term; the same risk existed w her in 2016, & in 2020 Biden’s two closest competitors [Sanders & Bloomberg] were both _older_ [and Warren is only 6 years younger].)
Age & incapacity aren’t directly linked; JFK was young, & was horribly ill.
6/And w Trump, who knows? We’ve never seen trustworthy medical reports. (In fact, his former doctor’s office was raided by unknown men who grabbed all of Trump’s records, which were probably destroyed.) Cognitively Trump was never smart; now he’s energetically incoherent.
7/But this is the situation we’re in. Wishing it were different doesn’t make it so. @JamesFallows
—who’s been in the White House, looking at choice & trying to figure out which & bad & which are worse—has the right take. We can’t know w great confidence that it would be…8/…better if Biden stepped down (he almost certainly can’t be removed against his will).
Sunday Night Open Thread: We’re Ridin’ with Biden & HarrisPost + Comments (182)
