Glenn Kirschner – After saying he will testify in E. Jean Carroll trial, Donald Trump … punks out, fails to testify
The Lincoln Project – Proud Boys
Farron Balanced – Trump Rushes Back To New York As His Lawyer Botches Assault Trial
Shirley Serban – I’m So Critical (a song fpr Karens. Feel free to pause it to read the tweets.)
This Cat Is Obsessed With Her Lizard Brother
Beau – Let’s talk about two Senate plans for the debt ceiling….
Glenn Kirschner – In a surprise turn, Bill Barr speaks the truth: says Trump’s “a horror show” & will “deliver chaos”
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – May 2, 2023
Farron Balanced – Trump Lawyers Beg Judge Not To Muzzle Him
Armageddon Update – Skull Cracking The Debt Ceiling
Cuddly Rat Can’t Stop Giving His Cat Sister Hugs And Kisses
Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, charts, and a new line of inquiry….
Yesterday, I got 8 out of 8 correct in the Conversation’s weekly quiz for the second week in a row. I can’t possibly keep this up. This week, most of the credit goes to the quiz author. The wrong answers were mostly so off the wall that it wasn’t really difficult. The only one I actually had to guess was the one about Karl Lagerfeld, and that was a true-false, so the odds were better than when there are four answers. and, yes, Virgil called to say Happy Anniversary. You knew he would (I certainly did.)
Cartoon – My Everyday Erinyes (#369) is up here:
Short Takes –
Letters from an American – May 4, 2023
Quote – Weirdly, Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) at a Senate Budget Committee hearing today blamed Democrats for not raising the debt ceiling themselves last year without help from the Republicans. Kate Riga of Talking Points Memo broke down this argument. If the Democrats had raised the debt ceiling through reconciliation, without Republican votes, Republicans would have insisted that it was the Democrats, not them, who had burdened the country with debt when, in fact, the Republicans added almost $8 trillion to the debt under Trump. Romney’s complaint amounts to berating the responsible Democrats for not protecting the country against the Republicans, who are willing to burn down the country. As Riga put it: “Darn you Democrats for not taking care of the debt ceiling then, because you knew we’d refuse to raise the limit unless you conceded to our demands, and look what a sticky spot we’re in now.”
Click though for much more (Click “continue reading”). They used to say “Seinfeld” was a show about nothing. This, on the other hand, is a letter about everything.
Crooks & Liars – Texas Bill Would Allow State To Overturn Harris County Elections
Quote – The measures call for the “abolition” of election administrators in counties with populations larger than 1,000,000—a metric that only applies to Harris County, which Republican state lawmakers have taken a keen interest in in the aftermath of the 2022 midterm elections…. Since then, the Harris County Elections Office report concluded that they couldn’t determine if potential voters were pushed away because of the issues at polling centers.
CLick through for story. This is so blatant that even now I can hardly imagine it succeeding though the courts. Even the courts we have now. But there is always a possibility. Clearly they think they are on to something.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner’s recap for April would have sppeared today. I was able to find a substitute.
Talking Feds with Harry Litman – BRAND NEW Trump Criminal Probes are Beginning ACROSS the Country
Sen. Whitehouse Delivers Opening Statement at Judiciary Cmte Hearing on Supreme Court Ethics Reform+
MSNBC – Democrats have a ‘legislative secret agent’ to fight GOP on debt ceiling crisis
Farron Balanced – Fox Feared Release Of Disgusting Tucker Carlson Texts So They Fired Him
Parody Project – A DAY IN THE LIFE (of a Swindler)
Tiny Shivering Kitten Gets Huge And Floofy
Beau – Let’s talk about understanding term polling….
Yesterday, I was short of sleep, and I hope you will forgive any typos I made in comments yesterday (and in todays posts, slthough the mechanics of putting up a post generally allows for better proofreading than the comments get from me.) I did do a couple of cartoons, and am now good through the middle of May, with only four more to make for the rest of the month. That’s quite a relief.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Daily Beast – Canadian Farmer Turned ‘Superman’ Escaped Putin’s Troops to Save Little Girl (hanky alert)
Quote – Paul described the decision to risk his life that day as a no-brainer. “When I said I was going to go down and get a 6-year-old girl, I was, I didn’t really think about my own personal safety anymore. I didn’t think about it, I didn’t do a risk analysis or anything. I just, yeah, go get this kid. Right?,” he told The Daily Beast. “Sometimes you get that call to go and do something that’s incredibly dangerous. And if you don’t take the call, then that means somebody else must. So, yeah, it’s passing the buck.”,,, “Paul is Katya’s Superman now. She tells me how he picked her in a car with all of those missiles landing around and saved her. Katya calls him ‘Superman’ every time we mention him. I wish there were more people like him in the world,” Julia said.
Click through for story. I added a hanky alert, but an outrage alert is also in order – outrage at the fascist Republicans who support Russia over Ukraine.
Robert Reich – Advice to Biden on how to handle House Republicans’ demands for raising the debt ceiling
Quote – My advice to Joe Biden: Ignore McCarthy and the Republican radicals. Mr. President, your oath to uphold the Constitution takes precedence. As the supreme law of the land, the Constitution has greater weight than the debt ceiling. Section 4 of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution states that “The validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.” A debt ceiling that prevents the federal government from honoring its existing financial commitments violates the Constitution. So, if House Republicans refuse to raise the debt ceiling, you are obligated by the U.S. Constitution and your oath of office to ignore the debt ceiling and continue to pay the debts of the United States.
Click through for details (you may need to click on “keep reading.”). Bipartisanship is nice (assuming it’s real, and not just a code word for extortion.) But the Constitution is nicer – and far more important.
Food For Thought
(The one on the left is Mrs. Matt Schlapp. I assume everyone recognizes Kari Lake on the right.)
Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump’s many criminal and civil cases: a brief overview
The Lincoln Project – Debt Ceiling Vote
Ring of Fire – Pence Testifies To Grand Jury After Judge Rules Against Trump
George Takei’s Oh Myyy – Dark Brandon Explained
Rottweiler Thinks Guinea Pigs Are Her Babies
Beau – Let’s talk about the House GOP’s huge win….
Yesterday, I started to look for any pictures which might illustrate the Furies (PoPublica does not permit reprinting pictures), and got sidetracked by the Google Doodle, which was of Alan Rickman. I didn’t completely fall down that rabbit hole, but I did end up using an image I already knew about, as you’ll probably have guessed if you saw it. The Peter Sellars (with an “a”) mentioned is the Australian director, not the deceased British actor and comedian (who spelled Sellers withan “e”). Sellars with an “a” is still alive at 83 and as outrageous as he ever was. Also, I came across a short post at Democratic Underground which I thought was kind of special – you can see it here. Finally, I put together a chair I had ordered which came Saturday, and did some rearranging to get it where I wanted it to be.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Southern Poverty Law Center – ‘LONG OVERDUE’: BLACK MEN KILLED IN INFAMOUS COLFAX MASSACRE COMMEMORATED ON NEW MONUMENT
Quote – In a bold swap engineered by a Black man and a white man working together, reckoning has come at last to Colfax, Louisiana… This month the Rev. Avery Hamilton, whose great-great-great-grandfather was the first Black man murdered in the rampage, and Dean Woods, whose great-grandfather was part of the paramilitary force that left the courthouse grounds soaked in blood, dispelled the ghosts of their family histories to achieve some measure of justice for the victims of the Easter Sunday massacre. They presided over the unveiling of a monument to the victims.
Click through for story and background. It’s very easy to lose hope in the face of virulent bigotry, not just here, but world wide. But – when something like this happens – it helps.
Daily Kos (Joan McCarter) – Biden needs to go it alone on the debt ceiling
Quote – Civiqs asked about just one of those alternatives, the platinum coin. It’s the “one neat trick,” as Bloomberg’s Joshua Green calls it, for Biden to make the problem disappear…. Precisely. It doesn’t have to be the coin. There are other options, including the one deemed by Michael C. Dorf, law professor at Cornell Law School, the “least unconstitutional option.” That would involve Biden taking Section Four of the 14th Amendment literally, and using it. He could declare that Congress is failing in its constitutional duty to pay the debts it incurs, so he must act to uphold its clear directive: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”
Click through for article. I have not seen anyone else writing on the subject taking quite this approach.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to testify to Jordan’s committee. Jim Jordan might want to BUCKLE-UP!
Politics Girl – Debt Ceiling Crisis
MSNBC – Tucker Carlson, Don Lemon out at Fox News, CNN (From what I’ve seen of Don Lemon, his loss is a shame. Tucker, not so much. And I could be wrong about Don.)
Ring of Fire – Kevin McCarthy Promises Wall Street He’ll Make Poor People Suffer
Twitter – Elephant returns child’s shoe that fell into zoo enclosure
Elephant returns child’s shoe that fell into zoo enclosure. ❤️
Cc: yuMyuMKrooavani pic.twitter.com/pwHNFs01lM— DAPPER DON DHARSHI • K A M I L • (@SoloFlow786) April 14, 2023
Beau – Let’s talk about Fox on military installations….