Yesterday was pretty quiet. I tried to catch up on some personal things around the house. I also receifed a few packages (nothing heavy.)
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
CPR – Elijah McClain’s autopsy report changed ahead of arraignments of the officers, paramedics involved in his violent arrest
Quote – It’s extremely rare for autopsies to be changed after a death and it only happens if the pathologist or medical examiner discovers new information they didn’t have at the time of the examination, lawyers said. In McClain’s case, the potential change in his death determination comes after a grand jury met behind closed doors for eight months in 2021. Information from that investigation — tens of thousands of investigatory documents, interviews and forensic and physical evidence — is sealed from the public, but that information is what apparently led Broncucia-Jordan to change the death certificate. Click through for story. In many states, counties, and municipalities, there is no requirement for a coroner to have any kind of medical expertise. This one apparently also has no legal expertise. And accountability, though desirable, won’t bring Elijah bach.
Robert Reich – The most important battle of our lifetimes
Quote – If Trump has broken the law – by attempting a coup, by instigating an assault on the U.S. Capitol, by making off with troves of top-secret documents — he must be prosecuted, and if found guilty he must be imprisoned. Yes, such prosecutions might increase tensions and divisions in the short term. They might provoke additional violence. But a failure to uphold the laws of the United States would be far more damaging in the longer term. It would undermine our system of government and the credibility of that system — more directly and irreparably than Trump has done. Not holding a former president accountable for gross acts of criminality will invite ever more criminality from future presidents and lawmakers. Click through for full opinion – one we probably all agree with (and probably can’t state quite as forcefully on our own – I know I couldn’t.)
Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
It’s all very well to discuss how to deal with a tyrant or an autocrat when you actually have one – whether in your own country, or from the outside looking in at another country. But, you know, things change. It seems pretty clear that Texas, for instance, is a virtual autocracy right now. But it hasn’t always been so. Ann Richards was governor once – up until 1996. Between then and 2015, something happened. But what exactly? During those years, one assumes Texas was sliding into autocracy. How exactly?
NATO was formed to be an alliance of western democracies. Turkey is a member. Turkey is being described as “sliding into autocracy.” How far down that slippery slope is it really? Is it far enough to be expelled from NATO? Is there even any provision for a country to be expelled from NATO if it ceases to be a democracy? At one point does a nation cease to be a democracy?
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Why Turkey isn’t on board with Finland, Sweden joining NATO – and why that matters
After decades of neutrality, the two Nordic states that have to date remained out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by declaring an intention to join the American-led alliance. But there is a major obstacle in their way: Turkey.
Erdogan is alone among NATO leaders in publicly stating that he is against the two countries’ joining the alliance.
Harboring terrorists or grudges?
The Turkish president’s opposition is based on his view that Finland and Sweden support “terrorists.” What Erdogan means is that both countries have given protection and residence to members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK – the major armed group mounting resistance to Turkey’s harsh treatment of its millions of Kurdish citizens. The plight of the country’s Kurds, part of a large but stateless ethnic group in the region, has long been a bone of contention between Turkey and parts of the international community.
Despite the PKK’s being listed by the U.S.and EU as a terrorist group, Finland and Sweden have been reluctant to extradite members of the group to Turkey over human rights concerns. Erdogan has responded by calling Sweden a “hatchery” for terrorism and claiming neither country has “a clear, open attitude” toward terrorist organizations, adding: “How can we trust them?”
Erdoğan’s ire with Finland and Sweden has also been exacerbated by the country hosting followers of Turkish scholar and cleric Fethullah Gulen. These followers are part of an educational and political movement with which Erdogan had been allied, but with which he broke as it grew more powerful. The Turkish president accuses the Gulenists of staging a failed coup against his government in 2016.
Foreign policy is almost always intimately tied to domestic concerns. In the case of Turkey’s government, a major fear is the threat to its grip on power posed by the Kurds – and international pressure over Turkey’s record of repressing the group.
Finland and Sweden are neutral countries not beholden to the strategic compromises that the United States and NATO are forced to make to hold the alliance together. Both countries have to date been free to take a moral position on Turkey’s position on Kurdish rights and have officially protested the repressions of dissidents, academics, journalists and minority groups.
Meanwhile, NATO countries have equivocated before their fellow member, agreeing to label the PKK a terrorist organization.
So where does this all leave Finland and Sweden’s application for NATO membership?
As such, Turkey can effectively veto the entry of Finland and Sweden.
The standoff highlights an underlying problem the alliance is facing. NATO is supposed to be an alliance of democratic countries. Yet several of its members – notably Turkey and Hungary – have moved steadily away from liberal democracy toward ethnonational populist authoritarianism.
Finland and Sweden, on the other hand, fulfill the parameters of NATO membership more clearly than several of the alliance’s current members. As the United States proclaims that the war in Ukraine is a struggle between democracy and autocracy, Turkey’s opposition to the Nordics who have protested its drift to illiberalism are testing the unity and the ideological coherence of NATO.
Glenn Kirschner – Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Trump; Announces “Direct Linkage” Between Trump & Capitol Attack
MSNBC – Brian Wiliams’s Farewell (It ends around 3:40 but I can’t cut off the end. Watch the rest if you want to.)
Thom Hartmann – Democracy’s Only Hope Is With BRAVE Progressives! [Thom says we are among the brave – we are paying attention. Not that those of us who see it don’t need to do more.]
politicsrus – Kentucky HD
Crooks and Liars – Jen Psaki (This is even more blunt than usual, and I applaud.)
If Smart TV Commercials Were Honest | Honest Ads
Beau – Let’s talk about the FDA, an FOIA, and 75 years….
Glenn Kirschner – House Postpones Flynn & Luna Testimony; Flynn Should be Returned to Active Duty and Court-Martialed (I’ll bet Miles Taylor could tell us what a “body man”s duties were – and I’ll bet it had something to do with adult diapers.)
The Lincoln Project – Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day
CNN – Meadows SPOOKED, Subpoena Coming Next? (If he thought he could “make a deal,” he has no idea who the committe members are.)
RepresentUs – This Is What Corporate Welfare Looks Like
politicsrus – Democracy Is Hard Earned
Six13 a capella – West Side Chanukah Story (I really do think Lenny must be smiling down. BTW you can close it when they start talking – pitching – at the end.)
Glenn Kirschner – Bannon is Poised to be the “Target” of a Grand Jury Investigation; Trump Poised to be a “Subject”
Meidas Touch – Matthew Dowd: Democrats are the ONLY party that supports democracy
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party
MSNBC – Charlie Sykes: Understand The GOP Is Setting Itself Up For Restoration To Power. This is late, but it’s a good review and a good discussion
Really American – Trump Again Claims He Doesn’t Like To Be Peed On
City News – Heroic effort by international students saves lives of two hikers in B.C. A Sikh’s turban is both a religious symbol and a part of his identity. This is sort of as if you or I had taken all our clothes off to make that rope. I am so impressed – awed, really.
Beau – Let’s talk about Mayor Pete messing up the supply chain….
