Tuesday
Jul122016
The Commentariat -- July 13, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Heather Stewart & Peter Walker of the Guardian: "Theresa May promised to fight 'burning injustice' in British society, govern for the poor and marginalised, and create a union 'between all of our citizens' in her first remarks as the UK's prime minister. Standing outside No 10 Downing Street after visiting the Queen in Buckingham Palace to 'kiss hands' and be formally anointed as Britain's second female prime minister, May made a bold grab for the political centre ground." CW: Hmm. I think we just heard from a "compassionate Conservative." Oh, dear.
Shes' as good at curtseying as Thatcher:
*****
See also yesterday's Afternoon Update.
Gardiner Harris & Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama said on Tuesday that the nation mourned along with Dallas for five police officers gunned down by a black Army veteran, but he implored Americans not to give in to despair or the fear that 'the center might not hold.'... Former President George W. Bush[, who lives in Dallas,] spoke earlier at the memorial." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "Law enforcement officials said [in Baton Rouge, Louisiana,] Tuesday that they were investigating a plot by four people to shoot at police officers, and they cited the threat to explain the heavy police presence at protests within the last week. The discovery of the plot arose from arrests made in connection with the burglary of a pawnshop early Saturday, federal, state and local officials said." -- CW ...
I also think it's important that we acknowledge that the fact that there are people in this country who believe that because of their color of their skin, they're not as safe as everybody else. And the fact that people think that and feel that is a problem in this country. -- Paul Ryan, on a CNN "town hall," Tuesday
CW Translation: "Those people" suffer from paranoid delusions, & that's a problem. ...
... Matt Fuller & Laura Barron-Lopez of the Huffington Post: Paul Ryan proposes to "have a good conversation where we calm things down, and we talk about solutions" to gun violence. Actual "solutions": zero: "... It's nearly certain that no legislation will materialize on gun regulation before lawmakers leave Washington for a seven-week break...." -- CW ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Conservatives like Brit Hume and Myron Magnet are lashing out at a wide array of subjects -- Black Lives Matter activists, President Obama, black crime in general -- in a perfectly emblematic display of the reflexive denial that remains the foundation of right-wing racial thought. The reactionary beliefs are hard to pin down, as they are more diffuse expressions of resentment than any kind of specific analytic claim.... The reactionary's response to this reality [of police discrimination against minorities] is to change the subject to the sources of his own grievance.... Suppose [the right's] entire litany of historical grievances was completely justified. What would any of this have to do with the question at hand, the treatment of African-Americans by police?" -- CW
The Height of Cynicism. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress (July 11): "One month ago on Tuesday, a gunman shot and killed 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida. House Republicans plan to mark this milestone with a hearing on a bill that would enable widespread discrimination against LGBT people. The legislation, ironically named the 'First Amendment Defense Act' (FADA) ... grants special rights to individuals with a 'religious belief or moral conviction that marriage is or should be recognized as the union of one man and one woman, or that sexual relations are properly reserved to such a marriage.'... The anti-LGBT bill has 171 different co-sponsors, nearly all of them Republicans." Thanks to Forrest M. for the link.
The Party of (a Dystopian) Yesterday. Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Republicans moved on Tuesday toward adopting a staunchly conservative platform that takes a strict, traditionalist view of the family and child rearing, bars military women from combat, describes coal as a 'clean' energy source and declares pornography a 'public health crisis.' It is a platform that at times seems to channel ... Donald J. Trump -- calling to 'destroy ISIS,' belittling President Obama as weak and accusing his administration of inviting attacks from adversaries. But the document positions itself far to the right of Mr. Trump's beliefs in other places -- and amounts to a rightward lurch even from the party's hard-line platform in 2012 -- especially as it addresses gay men, lesbians and transgender people." -- CW ...
... Kira Lerner of Think Progress picks "six of the most notable planks that the party approved for its platform on Monday: (1) Pornography is a 'public health crisis'...; (2) Marriage should still be between a man and woman...; (3) Children raised in 'traditional' homes are 'healthier'...; (4) Parents can force their LGBT children to undergo 'conversion therapy'...; (5) Education includes 'a good understanding of the Bible'...; (6) Coal is a 'clean' form of energy." CW: She forgot the ones embracing the tooth fairy & the Easter bunny.
Will Hobson & Cindy Boren of the Washington Post: "In 2014, a man testified that Penn State football coach Joe Paterno ignored his complaints of a sexual assault committed by assistant coach Jerry Sandusky in 1976 when the man was a 14-year-old boy, according to new court documents unsealed Tuesday in a Philadelphia court. Four other former assistant football coaches at the school also were aware of Sandusky acting inappropriately with boys before law enforcement was first notified in 1998, according to testimony contained in the documents. The allegations suggest that Paterno may have been made aware of Sandusky's actions far earlier than has previously been reported, and that knowledge of Sandusky's behavior may have been far more widespread among the Penn State football staff than previously known." -- CW
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
Matt Gertz of Media Matters: "Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is still being paid by ... [Trump's] campaign while simultaneously drawing a salary as a CNN contributor to discuss the candidate on-air, according to the network. CNN anchor Chris Cuomo and host Don Lemon noted that Lewandowski is 'still receiving severance from the Trump campaign' while introducing him in July 11 and July 12 segments. These references appear to be the first time CNN has disclosed the severance payments even though Lewandowski was hired nearly three weeks ago.... Since his hiring, Lewandowski has by his own admission continued to advise the Trump campaign, even pushing a camera away from the candidate during a campaign stop." -- CW
John Koblin of the New York Times: "Speaking publicly for the first time since she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against her former boss, Roger Ailes, the Fox News chairman, [Gretchen] Carlson repeated the allegations she made in the suit, saying Mr. Ailes made sexual advances toward her and later fired her because she complained about sexual harassment at the network.... In recent days, more than a dozen prominent Fox News personalities -- Greta Van Susteren, Sean Hannity, Neil Cavuto and Kimberly Guilfoyle, among others -- have spoken out to defend Mr. Ailes.
Presidential Race
Greg Sargent: "With many political observers and commentators wringing their hands about the failure of Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to unite the country in the wake of police killings and deaths..., we should be pointing out that one of the two candidates is actively trying to divide the country, while the other just isn't.... Clinton [today, at the site of Lincoln's "house divided" speech,] will once again speak to grievances on both sides, as she has been doing. Meanwhile, Trump claims Black Lives Matter is inherently racist. Spot the difference there?" -- CW
Amy Chozick & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "In an apparent sign that Senator Elizabeth Warren will not be named Hillary Clinton's running mate, Ms. Warren was invited by Mrs. Clinton's campaign on Tuesday to deliver a prime-time address on the first night of the Democratic convention this month -- a marquee speaking slot but one that is earlier than vice-presidential picks typically appear.... Two Democrats briefed on the invitation to Mrs. Warren, however, cautioned that Mrs. Clinton had not yet made a decision about a running mate and that asking Ms. Warren to take the stage on the first night did not preclude her from being tapped as the vice-presidential nominee." -- CW ...
... Ashley Parker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's campaign is vetting James G. Stavridis, a retired four-star Navy admiral who served as the 16th supreme allied commander at NATO, as a possible running mate, according to a person with knowledge of the vetting process. Some close to Mrs. Clinton ... say she was always likely to have someone with military experience on her vice-presidential shortlist, and Mr. Stavridis, currently the dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University, fits the description." -- CW
I think the senator's [Bernie Sanders] intentions is to stump quite heavily for the secretary [Hillary Clinton] all across the country, obviously and specifically in the battleground states. In addition to that, he'll be campaigning for down-ballot progressive Democrats in states all across the country -- whether they are battlegrounds or not in battlegrounds. I think you are going to see a lot of Senator Sanders on the stump. -- Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders' top aide, in a Politico interview (CW Note: the only link is a generic one, which I think will be "disappeared" tomorrow.)
John Cassidy of the New Yorker: In endorsing Hillary Clinton, Bernie "Sanders, having delayed this moment since the California primary, on June 7th, and having extracted a number of significant policy concessions from the Clinton campaign (including the free-tuition pledge for students at in-state public universities), was keeping his side of an old-fashioned political deal. And he was doing it with an enthusiasm that was either genuine or impressively faked. At times, Clinton seemed to be so pleased that she didn't know whether to nod or applaud, so she did both." -- CW ...
... Charles Pierce on Bernie Sanders' endorsement of Hillary Clinton. CW: Like me, Pierce attended the endorsement event in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. I'd add one thing to Pierce's assessment: I think Hillary showed a lot of guts in allowing Bernie to endorse her deep inside Bernie territory (he beat her by 22 points in New Hampshire, & by 29 points in Maine, which is right next door. In his home state of Vermont, which is also close by, he beat her by72.5 points.
Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker: Hillary "Clinton has committed no crimes with regard to her e-mails, but she has developed an unhealthy relationship with her pursuers, who surely will only redouble their efforts if she becomes President. Burned in the past, she has become excessively defensive, and harms herself more than those who long to bring her down. The next time she's under fire -- and there will be a next time -- Clinton would be best advised to forget her past and act like she hasn't seen it all before." -- CW
Jamelle Bouie: "... the greatest triumph of the Sanders campaign: To surpass establishment fundraising with small-dollar donations is to change how presidential politics is conducted. Now, candidates have space to marginalize influential factions and interests within the party -- Wall Street, for instance -- without facing an insurmountable deficit in election-year funding. That, far more than Sanders' electoral performance, opens the space for more left-wing politics (although the two are related)." -- CW
Stubby-Fingered Man Points Out He Has a White Friend:
Like Black People, Donald Trump Is Victim of Bias. Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "... even as he expressed concerns over the police killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, describing videos of the encounters as 'tough to watch', [Donald] Trump blamed Barack Obama and Black Lives Matter as primarily responsible for divisions over race.... Asked what he would say to African Americans who feel as though the system was biased against them, Trump drew an analogy with his own campaign. 'Well, I've been saying, even against me the system is rigged,' Trump told O'Reilly. 'When I ran for president I could see what is going on with the system, and the system is rigged. I can really relate it very much to myself'." -- CW
Eric Levitz of New York reprises an AP interview of Donald Trump in which the Trumpster criticizes Black Lives Matter. CW: I'd say Levitz is suggesting that Der Drumpf is a hypocrite.
Justice Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court has embarrassed all by making very dumb political statements about me. Her mind is shot - resign! -- Donald Trump, in a tweet, Wednesday morning ...
... Joan Biskupic of CNN: "Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's well-known candor was on display in her chambers late Monday, when she declined to retreat from her earlier criticism of Donald Trump and even elaborated on it. 'He is a faker,' she said of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, going point by point, as if presenting a legal brief. 'He has no consistency about him. He says whatever comes into his head at the moment. He really has an ego.... How has he gotten away with not turning over his tax returns? The press seems to be very gentle with him on that.'" -- CW ...
... Michael Shear & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump described Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Tuesday as a 'disgrace' to the Supreme Court after she expanded on the criticism of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee that she first voiced last week.... 'I think it's highly inappropriate that a United States Supreme Court judge gets involved in a political campaign, frankly,' Mr. Trump said in a telephone interview. 'I think it's a disgrace to the court, and I think she should apologize to the court. I couldn't believe it when I saw it.... And I would hope that she would get off the court as soon as possible.'" -- CW ...
... Nick Gass: "While remarking Wednesday on ABC's 'Good Morning America' that he would let Ginsburg herself speak to whether her recent criticism was inappropriate, [Bernie] Sanders added, 'Let me very clear: I agree with what Justice Ginsburg said.'" -- CW ...
... digby: "Seriously, I think the thing that exposes Mr Politically Incorrect's insanity (or stupidity) as much as anything is the fact that he believes he can criticize others for behaving inappropriately even as he behaves like a barbarian on a daily basis. But it does mark him as a perfect wingnut. Their pearl clutching over their rivals doing things they constantly do themselves is one of their fundamental characteristics.... And predictably the media and establishment Democrats are calling for the smelling salts a la ACORN and General Betrayus." -- CW ...
... New York Times Editors: "Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg needs to drop the political punditry and the name-calling." -- CW
... Washington Post Editors: "However valid her comments may have been ... and however in keeping with her known political bent, they were still much, much better left unsaid by a member of the Supreme Court. There's a good reason the Code of Conduct for United States Judges flatly states that a 'judge should not ... publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office.' Politicization, real or perceived, undermines public faith in the impartiality of the courts." -- CW ...
... Mark Stern of Slate: "... Ginsburg has decided to sacrifice some of her prestige in order to send as clear a warning signal about Trump as she possibly can. The subtext of Ginsburg's comments, of her willingness to comment, is that Trump poses an unparalleled threat to this country -- a threat so great that she will abandon judicial propriety in order to warn against looming disaster." -- CW ...
... Eric Levitz: "As Glenn Greenwald notes, there is something quaint in the idea that Ginsburg's comments threaten the perception of the Court's impartiality -- and not, you know, that time the Supreme Court picked the U.S. president by a 5-4 party-line vote.... [And what if] one sees a Trump presidency as the gravest threat currently facing American democracy. In which case, shouldn't Supreme Court justices have license to sound the alarm?" -- CW ...
... Noah Feldman, in Bloomberg: "Nothing in the Constitution ... demands that the justices be nonpartisan, or even pretend to be. John Marshall, the greatest Chief Justice, served as John Adams's secretary of state at the same time that he was chief justice.... Sure, Marshall's dual role ... would be unthinkable today. But it's good proof that the Founders' generation, at least, wasn't obsessed with the idea that justices have to be outside the reach of politics.... The arguments against Ginsburg's candor almost all come down to the idea that she should have respected propriety and upheld the myth of judicial neutrality. But who, exactly, believes in that myth in the year 2016? It's been 16 years since Bush v. Gore killed off any vestiges that might have existed." -- CW ...
... Here's Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect on the many ways Donald Trump would trash the Constitution (published in the Prospect's summer issue). -- CW ...
. -- David McCullough, historian ...
... Jim Dwyer of the New York Times: David "McCullough and Ken Burns, the filmmaker and author, have assembled a group of distinguished American historians to speak about the candidacy of Donald J. Trump ... in videos being posted to a Facebook page, Historians on Donald Trump. It is a diverse, honored group -- including, among others, Robert A. Caro, Ron Chernow, David Levering Lewis, William E. Leuchtenberg, Vicki Lynn Ruiz -- that speaks with alarm about Mr. Trump's candidacy and his place in the march of American history." -- CW
Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "Donald Trump will showcase his vice presidential pick at a public event on Friday, multiple sources tell NBC News." CW: Whoop-de-doo, the anticipation is killing me. ...
... Eric Bradner, et al., of CNN: "As anticipation builds for Donald Trump to name his vice presidential pick, two hopefuls -- Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich -- appear to be the front-runners, according to a person familiar with the deliberations. Also still in the mix: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Trump will likely make the announcement on Friday, the source said." -- CW ...
... Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "Fox News Channel said Tuesday that it has suspended its agreement with contributor Newt Gingrich due to 'intense media speculation' about Gingrich's possible selection as Donald Trump's running mate. The cable news channel said the suspension -- typical in cases in which an on-air contributor is running for office or considering it -- was mutually agreed upon." CW: Nice to know Fox -- not to mention Newt! -- is still the paragon of probity. ...
... Steve M.: Trump "could pick Sessions, or General Mike Flynn, or Ivanka, or whatever his overheated synapses tell him to do. And yet the press will describe whatever ticket he coughs up as carefully crafted and likely to do great damage to Hillary Clinton, because ... he's likely to pick a self-styled tough guy the press admires and/or regards as good copy. So there'll be a better ending than there should be for this mess of a vetting process." -- CW
So you think it's great Elizabeth Warren has a prime speaking spot on the first night of the Democratic convention? Ha! Democrats having nothing on the GOP. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is expected to address the Republican National Convention -- perhaps as early as Monday, the opening night of the convention, according to two sources familiar with the plans." CW: Maybe Trump's purpose here is to show that there is, in fact, someone more execrable than he is.
Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "In a country where the wealthiest and most influential citizens are still mostly white, Mr. Trump is voicing the bewilderment and anger of whites who do not feel at all powerful or privileged. But in doing so, Mr. Trump has also opened the door to assertions of white identity and resentment in a way not seen so broadly in American culture in over half a century, according to those who track patterns of racial tension and antagonism in American life." -- CW
Congressional Race
That's What I Like About the South. Gideon Resnick of the Daily Beast: "David Duke says he is getting ready to run for Congress. The former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan and ex-candidate for Louisiana governor told The Daily Beast he is heavily leaning towards challenging Rep. Steve Scalise. Scalise is the No. 3 Republican in the House who reportedly once called himself 'David Duke without the baggage' and spoke at a white nationalist group that Duke founded (two event attendees later said Scalise never attended the conference)." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Christopher Simcox, a founder of the now-disbanded Minuteman border patrol group, has been sentenced in Arizona to more than 19 years in prison for sexual abuse of a 5-year-old girl, in a case that drew the attention of the Supreme Court after Mr. Simcox tried to question the young victim." Simcox, who represented himself at trial, plans to appeal the sentence. -- CW
Way Beyond
Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Britain readied itself on Wednesday for a new prime minister as Theresa May prepared for a summons from the queen and David Cameron made his valedictory appearance in Parliament as the nation's leader. The day was filled with all the pageantry that comes with a change of occupancy at 10 Downing Street. Cameron received a poignant send-off from the green benches of the House of Commons. After that: the ritual trip down The Mall to Buckingham Palace for his successor. Cameron was welcomed to the House floor with a booming cheer...." -- CW
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Reader Comments (14)
I want to thank our intrepid reporter for her lively take on the Bernie/Hillary bash yesterday. I guess rude folk reside everywhere –- especially at political rallies; their true colors come forth with a flourish. We can call that an understatement.
The hoopla over R.B. Ginsburg's slam on the Trumpster is pure honey. The Wash-Po evidently never listened to some of Scalia's speeches where Obama was one step below dog and Democrats needed therapy. In this case you could defend Ginsburg's position not as a S.C. justice, but as a citizen who does not want to see her country go down the toilet. Who better to speak up? The media has taken its good old time to finally realize what this man is about, treating him as a viable candidate where right off the bat he should have been skewered. And yes, by crackers, where the hell are those tax returns???
WALL STREET SHUNS TRUMP'S CLEVELAND CONVENTION
http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/donald-trump-wall-street-convention-225441
So the Republican plan is to return America to 1775, you know, before that 'all men are created equal' crap. Of course for many the year is 1BC.
So I have a question for all of these deeply ' religious'. What is your god's opinion of atomic weapons? What you mean he hasn't said anything in 2000 years! So how do you know his opinion on gay marriage. That concept didn't appear until a few years ago.
Sorry deeply 'religious', evolution continues every day. Democracy creates a problem. You can't hide from the truth. Maybe we should actually divide America where the new country in the south is the Christian version of Saudi Arabia.
@PD Pepe: I am inclined to agree with you & disagree with the WashPo & NYT editors. Ordinarily, the Supremes should keep their mouths shut & vote their consciences. However, their job is to uphold the Constitution, & Trump has vowed in numerous instances to trash Constitutional principles. To speak out against a presidential candidate whose campaign promises include riding roughshod over the Constitution seems like a civics lesson members of the Court -- including Republican appointees -- have a responsibility to perform.
I would say that Ginsburg could have been more prudent. Were I she, I would have aimed my comments at Trump's anti-Constitution remarks rather than at his failure to release his tax returns, for instance, which is a modern tradition, not a Constitutional mandate.
Marie
As I follow the news nationally and in NJ, it looks like the Republican convention room is going to be half empty.
The New Black Panthers intend to be in the vicinity of the GOP convention, armed. Bikers for Trump, and several other non-law enforcement armed groups will be there too. What could go wrong?
Here is an interesting "Atlantic" 2011 brief history of gun control and 2nd Amendment fervor, that is pretty accurate in facts and pertinence. It shows that the (old) Panthers and the (new) NRA pretty much believed in the same caliber of god: you have the right to arm yourself in public to protect yourself against the police power.
When I was a kid, I was an NRA junior member, and enjoyed plinking and target practice. Many squirrels died, and my brothers and I actually skinned and cooked them. Along about 1970, after spending a year where my job was to take wounded people to hospitals, I came not to hate guns, but to just not want to be around them. I came to think that the best place for guns is locked up in an armory and accessible only by people who are professionally trained to use them. If I ever saw an "open carry" aficionado in my town, I absolutely would feel threatened. One of the things you do learn in an "all guns all the time" environment, like in a war zone, is that the threat to you is always personal, Yossarian-like. You don't care what gun-carriers' intent might be; you just know that at any moment all those weapons can initiate pure hell. Makes me jumpy.
Anyway, here's the article:
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/09/the-secret-history-of-guns/308608/
@Marie: Yes, re: comments aimed at snti-Constiution remarks., but I think at 81 she's tired of being prudent and is throwing caution to the wind.
I thought the speech Obama gave at the Police Memorial Service was one of his best. But he still believes this country is not as divided as it appears to be. When we first got a glimpse of this man this was his message––no blue, no red, no shades of purple, but the "United" States. I doubted it then and today I doubt it even more. Just look at the GOP platform and compare it with the Democrat's–––wide berth––big divisions.
Watched PBS's documentary on The White House last night which was very entertaining and interesting. Looks like this country was founded on divisions right from the get-go–––it's in our DNA. And who labored building that house of white back in the day but black slaves who did it all without pay.
Always a puzzle WHEN or WHY NOT the NYTimes does not make available a comments section with Op-Ed pieces. Yesterday, Andrew Rosenthal's shabby piece on Bernie's endorsement speech) was SLLOOOOWW to load comments...and today's Editorial Board chastisement of RBG doesn't include option for comments. Betcha their moderator staff would have to call in back-up reserves if they did. Did Ruth go too far? A tad maybe, but it's long past time for others to speak out...and as PDPepe pointed out, Scalia's 'outspokenness' let him get away with much over the years.
@Marvin Schwalb:
Great proposal Marvin. I might suggest that Texas be designated Mecca, with Louie "Goober" Gohmert as Grand Ayatollah.
Trey Gowdy and his House Republican friends plan to mark the one
month anniversary of the Orlando shooting with a hearing on a bill
legalizing discrimination against LGBT people labeled "First
Amendment Defense Act", reason being that discrimination should
be excused when it is justified by religion.
I didn't know any type of discrimination could be "justified".
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/07/11/3796693/congress-
first-lgbt-rights-hearing-since-orlando-bill-legalize-discrimination/
PD,
Thanks for the link.
No doubt Wall Street's reluctance to get behind the Trumpster has much to do with their assessment of the prevailing political winds, but I'd like to think they are also chary of supporting a "businessman" whose success is dependent on repeatedly, cavalierly and publicly defaulting on his debts.
Trump has carried our credit card economy to its logical conclusion. Run up massive debts, partially satisfy them by taking out another card, then after a series of such maneuvers, finally default on the whole stack, often leaving the little guy, the one who did the real work, holding the bag.
The crucial difference between Trump and the rest of us is that bankruptcy laws protect credit card lenders. Not so, those foolish enough to have advanced The Donald piles of cash.
Fitzgerald had it right when he said the rich are different from you and me. He likely didn't have the Republican-passed bankruptcy laws in mind when he said it, but the differential treatment of the rich and the rest is glaring.
The good news is that the many manifestations of that difference are becoming frequent topics of public discourse.
In that regard, as someone else did the other day, I'd also recommend Matt Taibbi's "The Divide."
If you're a public figure like RBG and you have the chops and you think Trump is a danger to this country, it's gotta be fun to get under his skin. Because it's so easy to do, and so entertaining, you could keep him busy composing multiple, inane, immature responses to your taunts. It could become a game. No, an app!
Besides, she's 81. Look at her legacy, her life. She endured pancreatic cancer for god's sake. What's she got to lose? Her legacy? Her "gravitas"? I doubt it.
As for the NYT's assertion that the Supreme Court is supposed to be above all that, yeah, right. Puh-leeze, that ship ran aground long ago with Fat Tony at the helm.
In 56 BC, a gentleman named Lucius Cornelius Balbus, a wealthy and influential businessman from Andalusia, was given citizenship in the Republic of Rome. His enemies conspired to have him put on trial for illegally procuring this status, for such a law existed and could be applied in many instances. He was defended by the Roman consul Cicero who pointed out that a valid exception was made in Balbus' case and that "Quod si exceptio facit ne liceat, ubi <non sit exceptum, ibi> necesse est licere." In other words, if that rule didn't exist, no exception would be needed, or to frame it in a more contemporary construction, citizenship for Balbus was the exception that proved the rule.
So it is with Notorious RBG's swipe at the outrageous presidential pretensions of one Donaldo Trumpius.
Yes, in the vast majority of instances, Supreme Court justices should keep their own counsel on such topics, but this case lands so far over the line as to demand public notice by one of the few American citizens officially tasked with Constitutional oversight, a case involving a dangerous, ignorant blowhard who has never even read the Constitution and deems it worthy of something with which he can wipe his ass. Should RBG keep quiet were Republicans to float the idea of a baboon as commander in chief?
Well, they have.
And all the "pearl clutching" as Digby might say, on the part of outraged Confederates reminds us of her canny observation of the way they all howl when confronted with the sight of some non-Confederate doing something they do on a regular basis.
As for their sanctimonious "concern" for Constitutional rectitude, I seem to recall Confederate justices halting a national presidential election in order to install, by fiat, one of their own, an incurious chimpanzee who pissed on that document every chance he had. Maybe if someone had spoken up about that former primate, we wouldn't have to worry about the current one.
As Cicero might say, anyone can make a mistake, but if you keep making them, you're an idiot. Or as the previous primate once put it, "...fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again."
What he said.
Forrest wrote: "...discrimination should be excused when it is justified by religion."
Wow. Just when you think they've scraped the bottom of the casuistry barrel.
Even worse is the reality, for wingnuts, that discrimination, especially against certain OTHERS (and members of the LGBT community are smack dab in the middle of that configuration) is not only excused but encouraged.
This, of course, is the result of Confederate ideology being taken over by religious nut jobs whose first thought every morning seems to be "Who would Jesus fuck over today?" Because they're the victims, not those dehumanized by their discrimination.
Such lovely people.
OMG! Looks like we got a TrumpPence!
Would this be another variation of: noun: tuppence?
—the sum of two pence, especially before decimalization (1971).
informal
a trivial sum; anything at all.
Trivial summation! Indeed. Just spotted headline over on HuffPost: "PENCE TOP PICK" must be a typo, looks like they forgot an R!