June 27, 2022
Late Morning/Afternoon Update:
** There will be a hearing of the January 6 House select committee tomorrow (Tuesday) at 12:00 noon 1:00 pm ET. The hearing was previously unannounced and the topic of the hearing at this time remains unannounced, MSNBC is reporting.
** Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "Federal agents armed with a search warrant have seized the phone of John Eastman, a lawyer who advised ... Donald J. Trump on a key element of the effort to overturn the results of the 2020 election, according to a court filing by Mr. Eastman on Monday. The filing, a motion to recover property from the government, said that F.B.I. agents in New Mexico, acting on behalf of the Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General, stopped Mr. Eastman as he was leaving a restaurant last Wednesday and seized his iPhone. A copy of the warrant included as an exhibit in Mr. Eastman's filing said that the phone would be taken to the inspector general's forensic lab in Northern Virginia. The seizure ... is the latest evidence that the Justice Department is intensifying its criminal investigation into the various strands of Mr. Trump's efforts to remain in power after he was defeated.... The seizure of Mr. Eastman's phone appears to have come on the same day that federal agents also seized the phone of Jeffrey Clark...."
What a Surprise! Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a high school football coach had a constitutional right to pray at the 50-yard line after his team's games. The vote was 6 to 3, with the court's three liberal members in dissent. The case pitted the rights of government workers to free speech and the free exercise of their faith against the Constitution's prohibition of government endorsement of religion and the ability of public employers to regulate speech in the workplace. The decision was in tension with decades of Supreme Court precedents that forbade pressuring students to participate in religious activities. The case concerned Joseph Kennedy, an assistant coach at a public high school in Bremerton, Wash., near Seattle. For eight years, Mr. Kennedy routinely offered prayers after games, with students often joining him. He also led and participated in prayers in the locker room, a practice he later abandoned and did not defend in the Supreme Court." The AP's report is here. ~~~
~~~ Update. The Washington Post story, which is here, is topped by a photo of Kennedy kneeling in prayer, leaning on a football, in front of the Supreme Court building. According to the caption, this display of piety took place "after the Court heard arguments." ~~~
~~~ Marie: I do hope there are some Pastafarian coaches out there writing up their 50-yard-line prayers for the coming football season.
Akhilleus the Skeptic asserts in today's thread that Rudy Giuliani may have ever-so slightly exaggerated the force of the slap on the back he got from a grocery clerk who accurately labeled Rudy a scumbag. I'll leave it to you to judge, but it looks to me as if the woman standing next to Rudy, who appears to be a friend of his, touched Rudy's back harder than did the grocery worker. Nevertheless, Rudy had the guy arrested because he thought the guy had shot him & would have knocked him down if Rudy hadn't been so fit. In my view, the worker appears to have simply tagged Rudy to make sure everyone knew who the scumbag was:
~~~ Related story linked below.
Michael Wines & Eliza Fawcett of the New York Times: "... a year after Attorney General Merrick B. Garland established the federal Election Threats Task Force, almost no one ... has faced punishment.... Only [one] has successfully concluded out of more than 1,000 it has evaluated. Public reports of prosecutions by state and local officials are equally sparse, despite an explosion of intimidating and even violent threats against election workers, largely since ... Donald J. Trump began spreading the lie that fraud cost him the 2020 presidential election.... The depth of election workers' fear was underscored in hearings this month by the congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault at the U.S. Capitol.... [Some] experts say the lack of both action and transparency was undermining the principal goal of the task force -- to stop the epidemic of violent threats."
Matthew Goldstein of the New York Times: "The public listing of ... Donald J. Trump’s social media company took a fresh blow on Monday when the cash-rich shell company merging with Mr. Trump's company disclosed in a regulatory filing that a federal grand jury in New York recently issued subpoenas to the company and its directors. The grand jury subpoenas were issued within the past week, according to the filing by Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that announced a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group in October. After the merger, Trump Media would assume Digital World's listing and trade as a public company. The disclosure by Digital World is the first indication that federal prosecutors in Manhattan have joined in the scrutiny of the merger between Digital World and Trump Media, which has been under investigation by financial regulators for months. The investigation threatens to further delay the completion of the merger, which would provide Mr. Trump's company and its social media platform, Truth Social, with up to $1.3 billion in capital, in addition to a stock market listing."
Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post thinks up some ways Susan Collins & Joe Manchin can make some substantive amends for the damage the have caused the country by voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. "... it is not politically or morally sufficient for Collins or Manchin to simply holler 'I was tricked!' when the rights of millions of Americans are at stake. Whether she was deceived, when a public official make an error so egregious, it is incumbent on her to fix the damage. If Collins refuses to do so, voters will draw the conclusion that she wasn't that surprised -- or that sorry -- that she enabled the destruction of women's fundamental right to reject forced birth."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Especially during election years, GOP elected officials, including Donald Trump in 2020, claimed that the Supreme Court would never overturn Roe v. Wade. "On the one hand, the Republican Party has pushed for it for decades; on the other, even as it has done so, plenty within its ranks have assured that it wasn't happening. The party seemed to want the benefits of the push with its base, without the consequences of the unpopular prospect with the broader electorate. It also knew that overturning Roe was a red line for some key abortion-rights-supporting GOP senators whose votes were needed to confirm the justices who would eventually overturn Roe." Blake cites examples.
Utah. Praveena Somasundaram of the Washington Post: "A judge in Utah granted a temporary restraining order to block the state's 'trigger ban' on Monday, allowing abortion services to resume immediately. Third District Judge Andrew Stone in Salt Lake City granted a 14-day restraining order in an emergency hearing requested by the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU).... Utah's trigger ban, which the legislature passed in 2020, prohibits abortions with limited exceptions, such as if the procedure is necessary to prevent a pregnant person's death or if a person is pregnant as a result of incest or rape."
~~~~~~~~~~
Free States & Slave States and a New Underground Railroad. Jacob Bogage & Christopher Rowland of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court decision to strike down Roe v. Wade is expected to trigger new battles between states over abortion access, as women and advocates try to get around newly enacted bans by seeking the procedure out of state and using hard-to-trace medications. The fights promise to raise tensions between states in ways not seen since the era of slavery, experts say. Multiple states, including Arizona, Arkansas and Texas, have sought to stem the flow of abortion-inducing pills by making their shipment through the mail illegal. Republican lawmakers in Missouri are considering a bill that would prohibit Missouri residents from getting an abortion out of state as well as penalize out-of-state medical professionals.... Liberal governors and legislatures are erecting legal countermeasures.... The governors of Washington and Oregon joined [California Gov. Gavin] Newsom in declaring a West Coast 'commitment to reproductive freedom' citing the intention to pass more sweeping protections, including refusals to extradite people to states with abortion bans. And hours after the Supreme Court ruling, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), a moderate Republican, issued an executive order barring state officials from assisting investigations by other states of providers, advocates and patients who obtain abortion services." ~~~
~~~ Marie: The map has expanded, adding primarily Midwestern states to the Solid South, but the Supremes' decision to rescind a Constitutional right necessarily pits state against state. This will get much worse if Clarence Thomas & his Supreme cohort overturn more Constitutional rights and return more policy supremacy -- like environmental protections -- to the states. Ironically, these Supremes seem to be showing off their god-like power by forcing women to give birth against their will, but as they continue to whittle away federally-protected rights, they will discover that the Court itself, like the federal government as a whole, will have less and less influence. It will be "supreme" over a much-diminished landscape. If the nation is to be preserved -- and I'm not sure I care that it is -- then voters will have to elect Democrats, and Democrats will have to overcome their timidity & put an end to the tyranny of the Court's majority. ~~~
~~~ But That Is So Not Happening. Steve Peoples & Aaron Kessler of the AP: "A political shift is beginning to take hold across the U.S. as tens of thousands of suburban swing voters who helped fuel the Democratic Party's gains in recent years are becoming Republicans. More than 1 million voters across 43 states have switched to the Republican Party over the last year, according to voter registration data analyzed = by The Associated Press. The previously unreported number reflects a phenomenon that is playing out in virtually every region of the country -- Democratic and Republican states along with cities and small towns -- in the period since President Joe Biden replaced ... Donald Trump." ~~~
~~~ Stephen Marche in a Guardian op-ed: "The cracks in the foundations of the United States are widening, rapidly and on several fronts. The overturning of Roe v Wade has provoked a legitimacy crisis no matter what your politics.... The right wing has been imagining a civil war, publicly, since at least the Obama administration.... The leftwing American political class, incredibly, continues to cling to its defunct institutional ideals. Democrats under Biden have wasted the past two years on fictions of bipartisanship and forlorn hopes of some kind of restoration of American trust.... This divide isn't just American. As the forces of the world split between a liberal-democratic elite and authoritarian populists, the same asymmetry can be seen in the struggle everywhere.... Republican officials will use the supreme court, or whatever other political institutions they control, to push their agenda no matter how unpopular with the American people. Meanwhile, their calls for violence ... create a climate of rage that solidifies into regular physical assaults on their enemies."
The Tryranny of Trump Lives On. Jill Colvin of the AP: "The abortion decision marked the apex in a week that reinforced [Donald Trump]'s ongoing impact in Washington more than a year and a half after he exited the White House. A court that includes three Trump-appointed conservatives also decided to weaken restrictions on gun ownership. And across the street at the Capitol, which was ravaged by a mob of Trump supporters in the final days of his presidency in 2021, new details surfaced of his gross violations of democratic norms."
Reality Chek: Where Abortions Are Legal in Theory but Unavailable in Practice. Megan Messerly of Politico: "Clinics and abortion funds in Idaho, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wyoming -- four states that have rape or incest exceptions in their abortion bans -- told Politico that while the law may allow people to terminate their pregnancy in those instances, it will likely be easier to get patients across state lines for an abortion than try to clear the hurdles associated with obtaining one legally in their home state.... Clinics planning to move their operations across state lines might leave patients in their states with no providers willing to offer abortions in cases of rape and incest. Willing providers ... may be dissuaded for fear of prosecution. And patients might not want to go through with the abortion if their state requires them or their provider to report the rape or incest to police, as is the case in Idaho, Utah and Mississippi.... Abortion rights advocates warn that so few people will be able to take advantage of the exceptions that it will be as if they didn't exist."
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Abortion pills, already used in more than half of recent abortions in the U.S., are becoming even more sought-after in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned, and they will likely be at the center of the legal battles that are expected to unfold as about half the states ban abortion and others take steps to increase access. The method, known as medication abortion, is authorized by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. It involves taking two different drugs, 24 to 48 hours apart, to stop the development of a pregnancy and then to cause contractions similar to a miscarriage to expel the fetus, a process that usually causes bleeding similar to a heavy period.... The patient must participate in the consultation from a state that allows abortion, even if it simply involves being on the phone in a car just over the border.... Medication abortion is likely to provide significant enforcement challenges....Two [Biden administration] cabinet members [-- Merrick Garland & HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra --] swiftly released statements vowing to protect the right to take medicines that had been approved by the federal government."
Matthew Haag, et al., of the New York Times: "... this year's [gay pride march in Manhattan], for all its joyous celebrations, had taken on sudden urgency and heightened significance just two days after the United States Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion and signaled that the court could reconsider other liberties, including the 2015 decision that allowed same-sex marriage.... Planned Parenthood -- which event organizers decided to place at the head of the event after the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade -- led the way as the first groups rolled down Fifth Avenue to start the 52nd annual Pride March, the first in-person parade since 2019 because of the pandemic."
** Alito Doesn't Under the Constitution. Michele Goodwin of the U.C.-Irvine law school, in a New York Times op-ed, explains the 13th & 14th Amendments to the Supreme Misogynists: "Ending the forced sexual and reproductive servitude of Black girls and women was a critical part of the passage of the 13th and 14th Amendments. The overturning of Roe v. Wade reveals the Supreme Court's neglectful reading of the amendments that abolished slavery and guaranteed all people equal protection under the law. It means the erasure of Black women from the Constitution. Mandated, forced or compulsory pregnancy contravene enumerated rights in the Constitution, namely the 13th Amendment's prohibition against involuntary servitude and protection of bodily autonomy, as well as the 14th Amendment's defense of privacy and freedom.... The horrors inflicted on Black women during slavery, especially sexual violations and forced pregnancies, have been all but wiped from cultural and legal memory." ~~~
~~~ Marie: Goodwin's essay opened my eyes, too, because in my own experience, these Amendments are taught in such a way that women's rights & slaveholders' specific abuses of women are ignored. It is not surprising that the Supreme misogynists -- and that includes Lady Phony Barrett -- feel comfy in their blinders.
The New York Times' live updates of developments in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade are here.
Fox Dumps on Trump. Mary Papenfuss of the Huffington Post: Fox News host Brian Kilmeade attacked Donald Trump on Sunday and said he has seen no evidence that proves the former president's claims of election fraud. Kilmeade joined the growing chorus of criticism from the staunchly Trump-supporting Fox News amid reports that owner Rupert Murdoch is turning his back on Trump in favor of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for a possible White House run in 2024. Neither Trump nor DeSantis have announced that they're running.... Last Tuesday, Fox anchor Martha MacCallum called out the 'stunning' absence of proof to support Trump's election fraud claims during the hearing about the Jan. 6, 2021 attack. Two days later, Fox anchor Bret Baier praised the Republican election officials and members of Trump&'s own administration who stood up to his bogus election claims. Both The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal have also launched attacks on Trump in scathing editorials.... In an opinion piece in the Post, longtime Murdoch employee Piers Morgan called Trump an 'aging, raging gorilla who's become a whiny, democracy-defying bore.'"
Alan Feuer of the New York Times: "One week before scores of Proud Boys helped lead a pro-Trump mob in a violent assault on the Capitol last year, Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the group, and some of his top lieutenants held a foul-mouthed video conference with a handpicked crew of members.... The team of several dozen trusted members was intended, Mr. Tarrio told his men, to bring a level of order and professionalism to the group's upcoming march in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021, that had, by his own account, been missing at earlier Proud Boys rallies in the city. Over nearly two hours, Mr. Tarrio and his leadership team -- many of whom have since been charged with seditious conspiracy -- gave the new recruits a series of directives: Adopt a defensive posture on Jan. 6, they were told. Keep the 'normies' -- or the normal protesters -- away from the Proud Boys' marching ranks. And obey police lines.... There was one overriding problem with the orders: None of them were actually followed when the Proud Boys stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Far from holding back, members of the far-right group played aggressive roles in several breaches at the Capitol, moving in coordination and often taking the lead in removing police barricades.... Lawyers for the Proud Boys say the recorded meeting is a key piece of exculpatory evidence...."
He's Ba-a-a-c-k! Stuart Thompson of the New York Times: "After more than a year of silence, the mysterious figure behind the QAnon conspiracy theory has reappeared. The figure, who is known only as Q, posted for the first time in over a year on Friday on 8kun, the anonymous message board where the account last appeared.'Shall we play the game again?' a post read in the account's typical cryptic style. The account that posted had a unique identifier used on previous Q posts. The posts ... signaled the ominous return of a figure whose conspiracy theories about an imaginary ring of elite sex traffickers marshaled support for ... Donald J. Trump. Message boards and Telegram channels devoted to QAnon lit up with the news, as followers speculated about the meaning of Q's return."
Beyond the Beltway
New York. Nick Visser of the Huffington Post: "A worker at a grocery store in New York was arrested after slapping Rudy Giuliani on the back and calling him a 'scumbag' during a campaign event Sunday for his son, a GOP candidate for governor. The incident, which was initially cast as an assault, was shared in video footage in the hours after the encounter at a ShopRite store on Staten Island. A man wearing a mask is seen walking by Giuliani before hitting him on the back with an outstretched hand. It's unclear how hard the man slapped the former New York City mayor, who looked surprised by the encounter but didn't seem to be physically reeling.... Giuliani quickly moved to label the incident as an assault and the man was taken into custody at the scene. 'All of the sudden I feel a shot on my back, like somebody shot me. I went forward but luckily I didn't fall down,' he recounted on The Curtis Silwa Show. 'Lucky I'm a 78-year-old in pretty good shape because if I wasn't I'd've hit the ground and probably cracked my skull.'"
Way Beyond
Ukraine, et al.
Martin Ferrer of the Guardian & Agencies: "Russia is poised to default on its debt for the first time since 1998, further alienating the country from the global financial system after sanctions imposed over its war in Ukraine. The country missed a deadline of Sunday night to meet a 30-day grace period on interest payments of $100m (£81.2m) on two eurobonds due originally on 27 May, Bloomberg reported on Monday morning. Some Taiwanese holders of Russian eurobonds said on Monday that they had not received interest payments due, two sources told Reuters."
Zeke Miller, et al., of the AP: "Leading economic powers conferred by video link with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday as they underscored their commitment to Ukraine for the long haul with plans to pursue a price cap on Russian oil, raise tariffs on Russian goods and impose other new sanctions. In addition, the U.S. was preparing to announce the purchase of an advanced surface-to-air missile system for Kyiv to help Ukraine fight back against Vladimir Putin's aggression.... [President] Biden is expected to announce the U.S, is purchasing NASAMS, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system, to provide medium- to long-range defense, according to the person familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."
The Washington Post's live updates of developments Monday in Russia's war on Ukraine are here: "Leaders from the Group of Seven, the world's wealthiest democracies, are gathered in Bavaria, Germany, and set to discuss on Monday the Russian invasion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been invited to join and will participate remotely, according to the European Council. Russia hit the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, with a barrage of missile strikes on Sunday, in what was 'likely a direct response to Western leaders discussing aid to Ukraine' at the summit, analysts from the Institute for the Study of War said.... The same day, Russia defaulted on its foreign currency debt for the first time in more than a century.... Russia is attempting to draw Belarus more directly into the war, according to Ukrainian officials, who said Saturday marked the first time that Russia fired missiles from Belarusian airspace." ~~~
~~~ From a WashPo live update item: "In a conference call with reporters, a senior administration official said the G-7 leaders were still finalizing the details but were 'very close' to urgently directing their nation's relevant ministers to create a system to set a global price cap for Russian oil shipments to countries outside the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States and the broader G-7. The goal here is to starve Russia, starve [... Vladimir] Putin, of his main source of cash and force down the price of Russian oil to help blunt the impact of Putin's war at the pump,' the official said, speaking anonymously...." ~~~
~~~ Jim Tankersley of the New York Times: "Leaders of the Group of 7 nations said Sunday they would stop buying gold from Moscow and discussed a new American proposal to undercut its oil revenues, even as Russian forces rained missiles on Kyiv for the first time in weeks. The dueling escalation underscored how the war in Ukraine has consumed global politics and the world economy. President Biden and the British government said members of the Group of 7 -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain and the United States -- would move on Tuesday to ban imports of Russian gold. Representatives for the assembled countries were also negotiating toward an agreement to buy Russian oil only at a steep discount. American officials see both the gold import ban and the possible oil price cap as ways to undercut key sources of revenue for Moscow's war effort and further isolate it from the international financial system.... Supporters of the [cheap oil] idea, among them some top economic officials in Ukraine, say it would lead other nations currently buying Russian oil at a discount, like India and China, to demand even lower prices from Moscow.... The plan could prove ineffective, particularly if the price cap is set too low."
The New York Times' live updates Monday of Russia's war on Ukraine are here. The Guardian's live updates for Monday are here. The Guardian's summary report is here.
Useless News. Ashley Parker, et al., of the Washington Post: "'Jackets on? Jackets off? Shall we take our clothes off?' Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked, ostensibly wondering how the leaders should dress for an unofficial photo before their lunch meeting began. 'We all have to show that we're tougher than Putin,' the British leader joked at the summit site in Schloss Elmau, Germany.... 'We're going to get the bare-chested horseback riding display,' quipped Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau...." The Hill's report is here. MB: As a personal point of preference, make that Trudeau Oui, Johnson Non, Non, Non.
U.K. A Prince, A Sheik & a Suitcase Full of Cash. Max Foster & Karen Smith of CNN: "Clarence House said Prince Charles received charitable donations and the correct processes were followed regarding those donations after a British newspaper reported the Prince of Wales once accepted a suitcase containing €1 million ($1.05 million) in cash from a Qatari politician. According to the Sunday Times, the suitcase containing €1 million in cash was one of three lots of cash he personally received, totaling €3 million, from former Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani between 2011 and 2015."
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Reader Comments (11)
THE LITTLE FOX'S NEW BEST FRIEND:
Looks like their fealty to Fatty done take a back seat sniffing the air correctly that their old buddy's golden glow is dimming as the days go by. Dexter Filkins did a story on this new best Fox friend for the New Yorker:
"Nearly everyone I talked to who knew DeSants commented on his affect: his lack of of curiosity about others, his indifferent table manners, his aversion to the political rituals of dispensing hand shakes and questions about the kids. One former associate told me that his demeanor stems from a conviction that others have advantages that were denied to him. "The anger comes more easily to him because he has a chip on his shoulder–––he is a serious guy–-Driven."
But on the trail during rallies he takes on the Trump persona and prances around the stage looking for all the world like a happy warrior.
Filkins posits that the only thing that will complicate DeSanta's ascent is his own impatience. At forty-three, he can afford to wait to become President, but there is every indication he doesn't want to wait. One of his consultants told Filkins "Ron has been told for four years that he's Trump's successor––that all the women want to sleep with him, and all the men want to be him. Ron has heard too many times, 'you're NEXT.'
So–––we'll have this guy to deal with along with everything else that has caused the mayhem that's spreading across our country like all the wild fires. I agree that getting voters to elect Democrats is crucial but Democrats need to fight like hell to get rid of the filibuster, impeach Thomas (and maybe the others who lied to Congress)–––Bernie Sanders voice was ignored–––now maybe he'll be listened to.
If I'm reading the Justices correctly then Democrats can add 4-5 new Supreme Court Justices right now. The founders thought only white men would be on their court so five of the Justices (once Brown-Jackson arrives) would not really count in 18th century America. Only nine white men would suffice in their backwards interpretation of the constitution.
No one needs to waste another millisecond pointing out the blindingly obvious hypocrisy that informs how the Traitors on the Supreme Court “interpret” the Constitution. They don’t interpret, they rewrite, recast, bowdlerize, bulldoze, and buttress with bullshit.
The essence of their understanding of constitutional interpretation is “Because I say so. Nyah, nyah!”
We’ve dissected all this originalist folderol many times in the past. There’s no there there. It’s one of the more risible and ridiculous, but no less dangerous, tools getting what you want without having to offer the tiniest sliver of a serious legal reasoning.
If these guys were umping a game, they’d call you out on strikes for a ball that rolled over the plate, then kick you out of the game for not appreciating their so, so refined interpretation of the rules of baseball.
These crooks are going to do exactly what they want and don’t waste any time beating back their astonishingly clear misunderstanding of the Constitution. They.Don’t. Care.
They were not put in the court to be judicious. They were sent to win for the Traitors. And that’s what they’re doing.
Help!!! Someone tapped me on the back! I might die! Call an ambulance, and arrest that murderer!
*sigh* So I watched that “vicious assault” on the exalted person of one Rudolph the Red Nose Giuliani. Not only does he drink on election nights, now he must be pounding them down in the middle of the day.
But sure…ASSAULT! Had I been “hit” like that, I’m sure I’d need several years of PT before I could walk again. That is, if my lungs didn’t collapse, my heart stop, and my brain melt and spew
out my ears like runny hair dye. Of course that’s only if I were a confederate snowflake cum delirious fantasist.
Like Rudy.
Man up, buttercup. My 11 year old slaps me on the back harder than that when I make my once a week sky hook shot on our basketball hoop out in the yard.
Maybe TuKKKer can do a three hour special about how dangerous liberals are secretly plotting to turn all those winger hee-roes into pansy-ass girly men.
Just another example of how they can take a wrecking ball to the rest of us, but tap them on the back and you’re goin’ to jail. They demand no consequences for their treason.
@RAS: My math isn't too good this morning, but one of the guys who definitely would not have been elevated to the Court until into the 20th century is Alito, an I-talian and a Roman Catholic, oh dear. And of course Clarence Thomas & Amy Phony Barrett wouldn't be allowed on the bench, either. So I cordially invite those three, so enamored as they are of the good old days when men were men & women obeyed them, to pack up their musty 19th-century lawbooks & move on out.
Addendum: Come to think of it, Bart O'Kavanaugh, the Irish Catholic kid, would not have been invited to the party, either. So off with you, too, Bart.
Theocrats strike again!
So the theocrats on the Supreme Court of Jesus win another one for the Gipper, or I guess these days it’s the Trumper (although leave us not forget to acknowledge the astounding disconnect between the current theocratic tsunami and its instigator, a crook, traitor, liar, and sexual predator).
They have ruled that, because there is no Establishment Clause anymore (they torched that old thing last week), employees on the public payroll can now inflict their religious views on anyone. So a football coach can now demand that all the student-athletes must listen to and join in his prayers, no matter their own religious views. And yes, maybe some kids can decide not to, but this comes at their own peril. It would take a very strong 16 year old kid to stand up to a coach, especially if he or she wants to continue playing that sport.
I went to a Catholic high school and we routinely prayed before football games to Our Lady of the Crackback Block to protect us from harm while we beat the living crap out of the other guys, but that’s different. By definition, if you’re enrolled at a religious school, you kind of expect that sort of thing. I don’t ever recall taking it seriously though; I mostly was thinking about whether or not that tackle trap-double reverse misdirection play we put in the day before would actually work. I wasn’t putting too much faith in praying to god or Jesus or Mary, because I knew the guys on the other team, also a Catholic school, was praying just as hard for our demise.
But now, state sponsored religion (and only one kind, natch) is the order of the day. Just imagine if that coach was a Muslim and was praying to Allah. Would Alito and the rest of the court’s christianists be climbing over each other to hip-hip-hooray for that guy?
Rights are disappearing by the hour.
@Marie: Yes, Pastafarian coaches are straining for recognition so
they would get lots of press coverage while praying at any game
if in Pastafarian uniform.
@Forrest Morris: I am polishing my copper colander right now to get ready for the big game.
Rubin is a little late, Manchin and Collins already voted against the women's health protection act last month. Neither would get rid of the filibuster to pass any abortion bill. Theoretically they believe women should have access to abortion care, just as long as no effort is need from them to make it happen. It was too much for them to even symbolically show support for the women's health act even when they knew it didn't have a chance to pass. And my understanding of the stripped down version Collins and Murkowski would support would continue to allow many of the restrictions that have made abortion access in many places only theoretical. So the choice would still be limited in much of the country.
Copper? I feel deflated. Mine is only a yellow enameled
Polish import, but it fits nicely and goes well with my bland clothes.
Maybe the pastafarians could hold ecumenical services with the native american shamans using peyote to see and join the spirit world. Stare decisis doesn't count for much anymore, it's just an opinion, man.
https://oui.doleta.gov/dmstree/uipl/uipl90/uipl_4290.htm