Glenn Kirschner – Jim Jordan seeks to obstruct DA Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of defendant Donald Trump w/NYC clown show
The Lincoln Project – Gotham City
Farron Balanced – Keyboard Warrior Trump Became A Complete Coward When He Had To Face Judge
#BrokenNews – Guns
Wild Cat Gets A Pittie Sister Who Can Keep Up With Him
Beau – Let’s talk about China, Taiwan, and shipping….
Yesterday, a new transaction came out in the Clarence Thomas scandal. Harlan Crow purchsed some property from Thomas. Per ProPublica – “The sale netted the GOP megadonor two vacant lots and the house where Thomas’ mother was living.” You’ve heard the expression “He’d sell his own mother…” Well, here’s someone who actually did. That sale made her a tenant of Harlan Crow. Apparently Crow remodeled and repaired the place – butshe is still his tenant (assuming she’s still alive) and therefore owes him rent shold he decide to demand any.
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Daily Beast – How Ron DeSantis Is Taking a Page Out of Nixon’s Playbook
Quote – [Steven] Jarvis, who has tracked disinformation campaigns and conspiracy theories as an off-duty hobby since the 2016 election, said he’s developed a thick skin. But seeing pro-DeSantis accounts, and other apparent bot networks, accusing him of being a pedophile—and posting details of his marriage that could only have been gleaned from direct messages on Facebook, Jarvis said—shattered the barrier between his compartmentalized worlds. It wasn’t an isolated incident. For some who criticize the Florida governor and likely 2024 presidential candidate, a pattern appears to be emerging: attack DeSantis publicly, and risk your personal information posted online by pro-DeSantis accounts.
Click through for specifics. Just what I would expect from a man who laughs at his murder victims as they are dying.
The Bulwark – Jim Jordan Takes His Clown Show on the Road
Quote – Now Jordan has announced that he’s packing up the tent and hitting the road: Next week, the committee will be taking a taxpayer-funded field trip to New York. Why New York? To go after Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, whom Donald Trump, in his patented racist style, has called an “animal” and about whom Trump has screeched that “THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TOTALLY WEAPONIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY . . . TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ALREADY UNDER SIEGE ELECTIONS!”
Click through for details. Maybe he’ll do somethiing illegal and get arrested We can hope.
Food For Thought
The Law, paking ticket, Trump indictment, arraignment, history, NYPD, political cartoon
Glenn Kirschner – NY DA Alvin Bragg SUES Jim Jordan to force him to stop obstructing prosecution of defendant Trump
The Lincoln Project – President Fraud
Farron Balanced – Jim Jordan Just Made The Biggest Mistake Of His Career (My take on Pomerantz is the same. Jordan? I don’t know. His capacities for screwing up appear limitless.)
Robert Reich – Why Are There Fees on Everything?
Golden Retriever Picks Apples For His Bunny BFF
Beau – Let’s talk about reactions to the Justice Thomas news….
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Yesterday, the Daily Beast newsletter was super hot. If I avoid doubling up on sources (as I do try to do), I’ll be posting articles from that one day through the weekend. But they have found stuff we need to be aware of. Well, it certainly makes up for the days they only have entertainment news. In other news, Justin Pearson – the other Justin – was reinstated by Memphis to the Tennessee legislature – so now both Justins are back where they belong.
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Daily Beast – Montana GOP Has a Ploy to Sink Sen. Jon Tester: A New Election Law
Quote – The GOP-controlled state legislature is considering a radical change in election law—a change that is nakedly targeted at taking down Tester and could, in effect, flip one of the most vulnerable Senate seats well before November 2024. Montana Republicans are trying to take a page out of California’s playbook and switch their primary election to the controversial top-two primary system, otherwise known as a “jungle primary.” But it’s only for next year, when Tester, Montana’s last statewide Democrat, is up for re-election. After that, the change would expire, supposedly so lawmakers could assess how things went.
Click through for story. I am hoping that Republicans have not really thought this through. If Tester can beat any single Republican – three times – why would he not be able to beat a group of Republicans who will split the vote? But I could be wrong. We may both be in the Rockies, but I don’t really know about their politics. I pretty much know Colorado politicss and New Mexico politics and that’s it.
Robert Reich – Why Republican lawmakers are obsessed about sex
Quote – Why are Republican lawmakers obsessing about sex? Three reasons. First, by focusing on sex, Republicans can court both the evangelical right and the right-wing extreme QAnon vote (with its loony “Pizzagate” conspiracy claim that Democrats are pedophiles). Second, by focusing on sex, Republican lawmakers don’t have to talk nonstop about Trump…. Finally, creating a culture war over sex allows Republicans to sound faux populist without having to address the practical problems faced by most Americans
Click through for reasons. Gee, I always thought it was because they are the party of InCels (and I’m sure that also has something to do with it.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – 3 Trump stories: an anonymous jury; Barr says Trump’s sunk; a last-ditch attempt to silence Pence
Thom Hartmann – Seriously, the GOP Wants To Bomb Mexico?!
Farron Balanced – Trump Stuns America With Disturbingly Angry Easter Message
Armageddon Update – TRUMP “INDICATED”??
Grumpy, Un-adoptable Cat Is Her New Mom’s Shadow
Beau – Let’s talk about the Exonerated 5 and a letter to Trump….
Yesterday, In The Public Interest (ITPI – a group which opposes any privatization of anything which ought to be a pure government function) reported that in two red states, Kansas and Texas, the legislatures had defeated measures which would in some way privatize public schooling. This is welcome news. Still, I can’t get the thought out of my head that one motivator for taking this the action at this time was the desire to keep tight state control over what children are allowed to learn. In his play, “Murder in the Cathedral,” which dramaizes the death of Thomas Beckett, T. S. Eliot wrote the line “The last temptation is the greatest treason:/ To do the right ting for the wrong reason.” I’m not sure that is 100% true, but there is truth in it.
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Robert Reich – Is the GOP becoming the American fascist party?
Quote – We are witnessing the logical culmination of win-at-any-cost Trump Republican politics — scorched-earth tactics used by Republicans to entrench their power, with no justification other than that they can. Democracy is about means. Under it, citizens don’t have to agree on ends (abortion, health care, guns, or whatever else we disagree about) as long as we agree on democratic means for handling our disagreements. But for Trump Republicans, the ends justify whatever means they choose —including expelling lawmakers, rigging elections through gerrymandering, refusing to raise the debt ceiling, and denying the outcome of a legitimate presidential election.
Click through for article. Yeah, I know, the question answers itself. But he puts the evidence together nicely and neatly. Including the distinction between ends v. means, which is as important as the distinction between left and right v. up and down.
Raw Story – Lauren Boebert accused of ‘coverup’ after son’s car accident
Quote – Noble D’Amato, a 19-year-old friend of Rep. Lauren Boebert’s son Tyler, has accused the Republican congresswoman of covering up details of a vehicle crash that left him injured. D’Amato told Denver news site Westword that he was riding shotgun with Boebert’s son on September 17 when Tyler flipped the SUV he was driving. D’Amato suffered “multiple concussions and a severely lacerated hand.” “I still have problems with my hand,” D’Amato told the site. “My thumb almost got cut off. It prevented me from getting a welding job, because I can’t hold a TIG torch anymore. I’m a personal-care provider now.”
Click through for details. It used to be a truism that “It’s not the crime, it’s the coverup.” I’m afraid, for today’s Republican fascists, neither matters much, if at all. I’d love to be wrong in this case, as the kid appears to deserves justice.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – As defendant Trump’s threats to judge & DA continue, it’s time for the judge to order him to STOP!
Thom Hartmann – Frightening Truth About GOP’s Fascist Descent Exposed
Ring of Fire – Trump Holds Emergency Prayer Call Following Arraignment
Twitter – Justin Jones and Joan Baez singing “We Shall Overcome” at the airport together
Beautiful. Justin Jones and Joan Baez singing “We Shall Overcome” at the airport together. Two legends & inspirations uniting & sending a strong & powerful message. Tennessee Republicans truly messed with the wrong person. pic.twitter.com/bLLvsHt6yw
— Victor Shi (@Victorshi2020) April 9, 2023
Terrified Puppy Completely Transforms When She Meets Another Dog
Beau – Let’s talk about the GOP in North Carolina and Tennessee….
Yesterday, I realized I had inadvertently provided proof that when I get home from a visit with Virgil I am not running on all cylinders. I did this by scheduling yesterday’s Video Thread for the morning and the Open Thread for midday. Well, it wasn’t the first time I did this and it undoubtedly will not be the last. I can only promise not to do it on purpose; I can’t promise not to do it. Appsrently I had recovered, since i got the New Yorker’sName Drop on the first clue – but I went to the same high school as the subject, who had graduated the year before I was a first- year student, so I had some inside information. (I’ll give this hint in case anyone wants to pursue it: the person is mentioned in yesterday’s TJIs.)
If anyone is interested in taking in more information about ProPublica’s investigation of Clarence Thomas, there’s a “virtual event” today at 3:00 pm to 3:45 pm Eastern, here’s a link. It isn’t clear whether it is boing to be more like a Zoom call or more like a podcast, but it is clear it will be live, because there’s a space in the reservation form for any question you might want to ask. I won’t be there, but I didn’t want anyone who is interested to miss it on account of my inaction.
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PoltiZoom – BUSTED: Sadist DeSantis Laughed At Tortured Guantanamo Inmates
Quote – Inmates in Guantanamo used to die from being force fed Ensure which was laced with laxatives, which caused vomiting and diarrhea simultaneously. Having once had that myself due to food poisoning, I can assure you it is an unbelievable experience. The electrolytes in the body become unbalanced, which can lead to heart arrhythmia, which can lead to death. And Ron DeSantis thinks it’s funny, according to the testimony of one inmate.
Click through for evidence in detail, if you can stand to. It’s no surprise or secret that DeSantis is DeMonic, nor that “Cruelty is the point” – but the evidence is damning (to anyone but another fascist.)
the 19th – ‘We will not be defeated’: Vice President Kamala Harris stands with expelled representatives in Nashville
Quote – Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at Jones’ alma mater — Fisk University, a historically Black institution — delivering a message of praise for the lawmakers and an indictment of the Republican supermajority that expelled them. “A democracy says you don’t silence the people,” Harris said. “You don’t stifle the people. You don’t turn off their microphones when they are speaking about the importance of life and liberty. That is not what a democracy does.”
Click through for story. Sometimes beauty emerges as a response to evil, and that is what we have here. And Kamala is not the only respondent. See today’s video thread for an unplanned inspirational duet.
Food For Thought
