May 7, 2022

The New York Times' live updates of developments in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Ukrainian officials have warned citizens to prepare for heavier Russian attacks in the lead-up to Victory Day on Monday, when the Kremlin will commemorate the Soviet Union's defeat of Nazi Germany with military parades in hundreds of Russian cities. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine implored citizens on Friday to heed air-raid sirens and local curfews.... Earlier in the day, Mr. Zelensky said that negotiations for peace between Ukraine and Russia could not resume until Russian forces returned to the positions they had held before Moscow's invasion.... President Zelensky met with the foreign ministers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, and discussed how to increase pressure on Russia. He also addressed Iceland's Parliament virtually." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates are here: "The Pentagon is buying laser-guided rockets and drones for Ukraine's military, a U.S. defense official said Friday, while the United States will also send an additional $150 million worth of weapons and equipment suited for the open terrain of Donbas. President Biden the same day urged lawmakers to approve additional funding that would 'strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield and at the negotiating table.' The president will sign the Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act -- which speeds up the process of sending aid to Ukraine -- on Monday, the anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat, and a day of portentous significance in Russia." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates are here.

Liz Sly, et al., of the Washington Post: "Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky outlined his conditions Friday for entering peace talks with Russia, demanding a restoration of preinvasion borders, the return of more than 5 million refugees, membership in the European Union and accountability from Russian military leaders before Kyiv would consider laying down its arms. Zelensky's slate of requirements, which he listed during an online forum organized by Chatham House, are in direct conflict with the military objectives Russian leaders have articulated as they bear down on the Donbas region and southern Ukraine -- inflicting additional casualties Friday in apparent violation of a cease-fire."

Gaia Pianigiani of the New York Times: "After weeks of investigation, Italian authorities announced late Friday evening that they had impounded a nearly $700 million superyacht, saying that its owner had 'significant economic and business links' to 'prominent elements of the Russian government.' According to U.S. officials, the prominent element is none other than ... Vladimir V. Putin. In recent days, the Scheherazade, as the enormous luxury ship is named, showed signs of readying to set sail, apparently aiming to leave before the Italian government could seize it. But late Friday, Italian police boarded the yacht -- which is 459 feet long, with two helicopter decks, a gym and a swimming pool convertible into a dance floor -- and told the crew that the ship was not going anywhere." MB: Yeah, but it's pretty tacky, IMO:

** Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: “... Alito will forever be known as the supreme court justice who destroyed a woman's right to control her own body and who set the US on a regressive course pointing back to the 17th century.... [Alito's] draft draws heavily from two treatises written by an English jurist, Sir Matthew Hale, describing abortion as a 'great crime'.... No matter that Hale was writing in 1673. Or that ... his distinguished career included securing the executions of two women as witches and writing the definitive text for a marital rape exemption that said that husbands cannot be culpable of raping their wives because 'by their mutual matrimonial consent and contract the wife hath given up herself'....

~~~ "Alito leans on Hale and other voices from the distant past to underline his main contention: that 'the Constitution makes no reference to abortion' and as a result there can be no constitutional right. He glides over the fact that the constitution ... makes no reference to airplanes, car license plates or Snapchat, though that hasn't prevented the nine justices applying constitutional laws to those fields. Alito's other central argument in scuppering Roe is that constitutional rights have to be 'deeply rooted in the Nation's history and traditions'. Yet, interestingly, that standard makes no appearance in the US constitution either." Read on. ~~~

~~~ Ken Armstrong of ProPublica: "When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito ... detailed his justifications for overturning Roe v. Wade, he ... chose to [favorably] quote from Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century English jurist whose writings and reasonings have caused enduring damage to women for hundreds of years. The so-called marital rape exemption -- the legal notion that a married woman cannot be raped by her husband — traces to Hale. So does a long-used instruction to jurors to be skeptical of reports of rape. So, in a way, do the infamous Salem witch trials, in which women (and some men) were hanged.... Alito's opinion resurrects Hale, a judge who was considered misogynistic even by his era's notably low standards.... Alito ... invokes 'eminent common-law authorities,' including Hale, to show how abortion was viewed historically not as a right, but as a criminal act." ~~~

~~~ Bob Brigham of the Raw Story: "Justice Samuel Alito approvingly referenced a man who supported the death penalty for witches in the leaked draft of his efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade.... 'Samuel Alito reaches back to legal writings in 17th century England to show that the right to abortion services is not deeply rooted in our history. He cites Sir Edward Coke, writing in 1644, that abortion is a crime,' [Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC] explained. 'In 1644, in England, they were still having witch trials ending in the execution of the convicted witches. And Sir Edward Coke helped English law define witches when he re-wrote English law in 1604 to make it even more cruel in witchcraft trials.'" ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Missing from Alito's footnotes (as far as I know!): Henry VIII & the Marquis de Sade.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Justice Clarence Thomas said Friday that the judiciary is threatened if people are unwilling to 'live with outcomes we don't agree with' and that recent events at the Supreme Court might be 'one symptom of that.' Thomas, speaking to judges and lawyers at the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference, did not speak directly about the leak of a draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade, a colossal breach of the court's procedures. But he referred a couple of times to the 'unfortunate events' of the past week, and in a question-and-answer session led by a former clerk, he said he worried about declining respect for institutions and the rule of law." MB: Thomas seems completely oblivious to his central role in the Court's decline.

Michelle Goldberg of the New York Times: "... the demise of Roe will exacerbate America's antagonisms, creating more furious legal rifts between states than we've seen in modern times.... We will have two wildly different abortion regimes in this country. About half the states are expected to mostly prohibit abortion; according to the Guttmacher Institute, in 11 states there won't even be exemptions for rape and incest. A bill moving through the Louisiana Legislature would allow prosecutors to charge those having abortions with homicide. Blue states, meanwhile, are casting themselves as abortion sanctuaries. The right won't be content to watch liberal states try to undermine abortion bans.... The death of Roe will intensify our national animus, turning red states and blue into mutually hostile legal territories." ~~~

~~~ Goldberg writes, "The point is not that abortion bans are comparable to slavery in a moral sense...." Actually, they are comparable. As Margaret Atwood writes in a Guardian op-ed (extracted from her book of essays, Burning Questions) "Enforced childbirth is slavery."

Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "A son of a Brooklyn judge who dressed as a cave man and helped lead the charge against police lines and barricades in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot was sentenced to eight months in prison Friday after pleading guilty to felony civil disorder. Aaron Mostofsky, 35, an aspiring architect, admitted to being one of the first 12 people to enter the Capitol's broken Senate-wing doors and windows shortly after 2:13 p.m., while wearing a raccoon fur pelt and stealing a police shield and bulletproof vest." The AP's report is here.

Cat Zakrzewski of the Washington Post: "A California judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit that Donald Trump filed against Twitter, the latest blow to the former president's high-profile battles with major tech companies over their decisions to suspend his accounts in the fallout of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The lawsuit, which Trump initially filed last year in Florida along with suits targeting Google and Facebook, was viewed as part of a broader strategy to appeal to conservatives who have long argued that social media companies unfairly censor their viewpoints.... In the ruling, U.S. District Judge James Donato rejected Trump's argument that Twitter was operating as a 'state actor' when it suspended his account in January 2021, calling it not plausible. Trump had claimed that Twitter was constrained by the First Amendment's restrictions on government limitations of free speech because it had acted in cooperation with government officials." Legal experts said Trump didn't have a case, but Trump used the lawsuit as a fundraiser. A CNBC report is here.

Let me tell you 'bout a man.
What man?
A man with a van.

Trump Mobster Caught on Tape. Shawn Boburg of the Washington Post: "On Oct. 17, 2020, influential GOP donor Steven F. Hotze ... [called] the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, Ryan Patrick, a Trump appointee, who recorded the conversation." Patrick is the son of radical right Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, to whom Hotze had given nearly $100K in campaign donations. In the phone conversation, Hotze asked for help in apprehending a repairman driving a white van, someone Hotze had a private investigator following. The PI was prepared to ram the van, Hotze said, because it was supposedly shuttling phony ballots around. "Two days after the call, the private investigator Hotze had named ran a white van driven by an air-conditioning repairman off the road in Houston and held the driver at gunpoint during a futile search for forged ballots, county prosecutors allege. Police have said the man was innocent. His truck contained repair parts." The Houston DA is using the taped conversation as evidence in a criminal case against Hotze. During a deposition taken in a civil suit brought by the repairman, Hotze claimed he had no knowledge of the surveillance & never spoke to law enforcement about the matter.

Regrets, He Has a Few. Speaking of big-donor losers, Dan Zak of the Washington Post reports that Gordon Sondland, the hotelier who bought the E.U. ambassadorship from Donald Trump and then figured, unfortunately, in Trump Impeachment No. 1, has written a memoir. He thinks he did the right thing getting Trump together with Volodymyr Zelensky. His mistake, he says? Accepting "help" from Rudy Giuliani. MB: The only person who ever came out ahead enlisting Rudy's help is Borat.

Starbucks Sucks, Ctd. Kate Rogers of CNBC: "The regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Buffalo, N.Y., issued a complaint Friday accusing Starbucks of 29 unfair labor practice charges that included over 200 violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The complaint stems from claims made by Starbucks Workers United against the company in Buffalo, where the union organizing effort began in August. In the complaint, viewed by CNBC, the NLRB accuses Starbucks of interfering with, restraining and coercing employees seeking to unionize in various ways. The regional office of the independent federal agency said the coffee giant threatened and intimidated workers by closing down stores in the area, reduced workers' compensation, enforced policies against union supporters in a discriminatory way, engaged in surveillance and fired workers, among other alleged violations."

Beyond the Beltway

Georgia Congressional Race. Kate Brumback of the AP: "Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accepted a judge's findings Friday and said U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is qualified to run for reelection despite claims by a group of voters that she had engaged in insurrection. Georgia Administrative Law Judge Charles Beaudrot issued a decision hours earlier that Green was eligible to run, finding the voters hadn't produced sufficient evidence to back their claims. After Raffensperger adopted the judge's decision, the group that filed the complaint on behalf of the voters vowed to appeal."

Indiana. He's a Murderer (Allegedly!), But He's Our Murderer. Timothy Bella of the Washington Post: "An Indiana man who is accused of killing his cancer-stricken wife as she was seeking a divorce won his GOP primary this week from jail and will be on the ballot in November -- if he has not been convicted. Andrew Wilhoite was charged in March with killing his wife, Elizabeth 'Nikki Wilhoite, 41. She had completed her last chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer and was seeking a divorce after she found out her husband had been having an affair, according to the Lebanon Reporter. When the Lebanon, Ind., couple got into a domestic dispute in late March, Andrew Wilhoite 'allegedly struck her in the head' with a concrete, gallon-sized flower pot, placed her in his car and dumped her body in a nearby creek, according to the Indiana State Police.... [Andrew] Wilhoite, who initially lied about her whereabouts but later admitted to killing her, won his Republican primary on Tuesday for one of the three open seats on the Clinton Township Board."

Way Beyond

Northern Ireland. AP: "Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein was widely expected to become the largest group in the Northern Ireland Assembly for the first time, with vote-counting in this week's election resuming Saturday. If Sinn Finn emerges victorious, it will be entitled to the post of first minister in Belfast for the first time since Northern Ireland was founded as a Protestant-majority state in 1921. A Sinn Fein win in the election would be a milestone for a party long linked to the Irish Republican Army, a paramilitary group that used bombs, bullets and other forms of violence to try to take Northern Ireland out of U.K. rule during decades of unrest. It would also bring Sinn Fein's ultimate goal of a united Ireland a step closer." ~~~

~~~ U.K. Elliot Smith of CNBC: "The U.K.'s ruling Conservative Party has lost a slew of seats in local elections across England, dealing a potential blow to embattled Prime Minister Boris Johnson.... The Conservatives have suffered losses across England in the results declared so far, after voting was held Thursday.... Vote counting is now underway in Scotland, where results are expected to be more unfavorable to the Conservatives, along with Wales and Northern Ireland, with results expected Friday evening or Saturday morning." ~~~

     ~~~ The Guardian's live updates of elections results are here.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "In perhaps the most shocking result in the 148-year history of the Kentucky Derby, an 80-1 shot who wasn't even included in the race until Friday sneaked up the rail at the last furlong to win. Rich Strike, who got a place in the 20-horse field only when Ethereal Road scratched a day earlier, and whose trainer, jockey and owner all were Derby first-timers, capitalized on a ferocious stretch duel between favorites Epicenter and Zandon, catching them from behind...."

Washington Post: "An explosion at a historical five-star hotel in Old Havana on Friday morning killed at least 26 people and destroyed much of the building, Cuban officials said. The cause of the explosion was unclear, officials said, but preliminary investigation pointed to a gas leak. Dozens more were injured in the blast that rocked the Hotel Saratoga, across from the Cuban Capitol, around 11 a.m. Friday. On Saturday, officials released the names and ages of the dead; they included a pregnant woman and four children aged 10 to 17."

Comments

[Akhilleus]

I’m surprised Alito, in his learned opinion, couldn’t find room among his many anachronistic “legal” references in support of his massively misogynistic casuistries, for a few quotes from Zongo Bongo, top legal mind of the Troglodytes, whose most famous contribution to Troggy law was the “Bitches be making me brontosaurus burger in kitchen and shutting mouths” doctrine.

You know it’s a bit of a giveaway when you have to scramble through 17 th century scrolls looking for something—anything—to support your evil-ass patriarchal bullshit.

[P.D. Pepe]

We may never know who the leaker of Sam I Am's screed but they surely knew the impact it would have. We suspected the Supreme Court was coming apart at the seams but now we've seen how tattered and thread bare it really is.

The Indiana story of an alleged wife killer, presently in jail, would win his GOP primary and be on the ballot in November––IF–-he isn't convicted, leaves me speechless. But then, heck––-if Margie Greene can convince a judge that she be just fine and dandy to continue in congress then------

And then we have Ferdinand Marcos Jr. known as Bongbong––which ya gotta say has a ring to it––-is a convicted tax evader, lied about his academic record and is the son of the brutal dictator that plundered billions of dollars from Filipinos, is now poised to win the presidency whose election is on Monday, the same day Putin will be strutting his stuff in the Russian parade.

"This is possible only because our democracy [ in the Philippines] has long been ailing. Disinformation is rewriting our past and clouding our present. Filipinos are disillusioned with our system of government. And the impunity of family dynasties in politics has gutted its two essential functions: to allow us to fairly choose our leaders and to hold them accountable for how they fail us. The return to power of the Marcoses may deal it the final blow." Miquel Syjuco

But look at what May brings out! such lovely flowers––especially on the fruit trees––pick a few and put them in vases to brighten up our days that seem to get bleaker but bolder at the same time.

[NiskyGuy]

I have not read every word written about the demise of Roe v Wade, but in the things I have read, there has not been a single mention of the responsibility of men in the creation of a fetus. All of the consequences land on the woman.

It has a stunning relationship to the attempted coup. People who are not faced with consequences for their actions come away with the feeling that their actions were not wrong. And once one perceived boundary has been eliminated, I can imagine it creates a thirst for testing other boundaries. That doesn't end well, for anyone, but at this point in time, the boundary stretchers are the ones getting filthy rich, which irks me to no end.

[Ken Winkes]

The Goldberg piece about the divisiveness occasioned by Alito's plan to have the SCOTUS step out of the way and let the states fight among themselves over abortion brought to mind this thought:

The fight will not be limited to a war between the states.

Even worse, it will also break out within states, especially where Republican control is less popular than it might seem from a distance, due largely to voter suppression and gerrymandering and voters' inattention.

Because Republican control of many Red states is not monolithic, I expect to see more intramural quarrels too over the issue, maybe pitting brother against brother, sister against sister, and sister against brother.

Just like in the last war against slavery.

[Akhilleus]

The misogynistic supremes remind us of the differences between men and women. This being a Saturday morning (tea awaits after walking the dog…) I’ve been reading poems by the wonderful Wendy Cope, and thought I’d share a shortie dealing with her take on…

Loss

The day he moved out was terrible—
That evening she went through hell.
His absence wasn’t a problem
But the corkscrew had gone as well.

Yeah. And like that.

Well, off to walk the dog.

[P.D. Pepe]

Here's a long homage––of sorts––to Ed Koch who lived his life under a secret because he kept his sexuality hidden and the price he paid for it. And those were in the good old days that so many seem to want to bring back again.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/07/nyregion/ed-koch-gay-secrets.html

[Forrest Morris]

@Akhilleus: You should be having a mint julep instead of that tea.
It's Derby Day.
And have it before the christofacists remember those prohibition
days. That could be next on the agenda, after same sex marriage, etc.
But who was that who turned water into wine? I need to talk to him.

[Ken Winkes]

Another obvious thought:

One would think the SCOTUS, the Supreme Court of the United States, would have the sense and duty to act in the interests of the UNITED States, not in a manner that sows further division and rancor between and among its various regions, religions, races, ethnicities, and classes.

Instead, its majority is acting as if it were the SCOTD(disunited)S.

And all this while our advanced transportation and communication systems afford an opportunity to be closer together than ever before.

Maybe states' rights arguments made a little more sense when it took weeks to travel across the entire country, but today???

[unwashed]

Strange thought, I know, but if Alito wants to go back in time how about we take another step or two further. Where would we be in our societies, cultures, and religions today had our species evolved (been gifted by our creator?) to include the equipment and capability to both impregnate and be impregnated. How would power over others be exerted then?

[RAS]

Pete Buttigieg is good at talking about the culture wars.

Republicans need to hurry and outlaw this before that turtle starts expecting community assistance all the time.