Glenn Kirschner – Donald Trump INDICTED in federal court in DC for attempt to overthrow American democracy
The Lincoln Project – DJ Woke DeSantis
MSNBC – Rachel Maddow: History’s judgment looms as citizen Trump faces accountability
Farron Balanced – Trump Supporters Admit They Don’t Mind If He’s Conning Them
Neighbor’s Cat Scratches On Couple’s Door Every Day Asking To Come Inside
Beau – Let’s talk about Texas libraries…. (Wow, he’s angry. And rightly so!)
Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “Falstaff,” based on Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor. Back in the day when the filmed matinees were replayed on PBS, I remember there were a couple of very odd (to put it nicely) schedulings – like for instance “Medea” being replayed on Mothers’ Day (and there were others.) And then, of course, , hthey were being played after the fact, so that those scheduling them could have looked at the calendar and noted that “Medea,” for instance, was not the best choice for Mothers’ Day. That’s the one I remember, but I also remember that similar contretemps occurred several times. They seem to do better when the related real life occurrences are spontaneous – such as “Falstaff” being on radio (and also HD broadcast into theaters) in a week when a real life misogynistic conman has just been indicted after way too long a hiatus (of course, they were thinking of April Fools’ Day). There are differences – Falstaff gets his comeuppance from the very ladies he planned to seduce and swindle, and (ar least apparently) learns from the experience. I don’t anticipate any learning from experience to be happening in a Manhattan courtroom any time soon. The prodution is apparently the second one within about ten years – the previous one was very 1950’s, including a midcentury modern kitchen (through the window of which Falstaff got dumped into the Thames in a laundry basket.) This production doesn’t look consistently like any particular time and place, but it does appear to have a lot of color – reds, blues, and for one of Falstaff’s costimes an almost flueorescent orange. Also a lot of standing on tables. But then with such an absurd play it’s not out of line for the production to be a bit absurdist. (The play was supposed to have been inspired by Queen ELizabeth I telling Shakespeare she wanted to see “Sir John in love.” If so, evidently the best he could do was Sir John in heat, and certainly not forgetting about money. Falstaff may have been a knight, but he was not a noble character.) But it’s all in good fun, and the singers always seem to have at least as much fun as the audience – maybe more.
Cartoon –
Short Takes –
Crooks & Liars – DeSantis Gets Caught In The Disney Mousetrap
Quote – The previous board, Disney controlled Reedy Creek Improvement District, approved the last minute agreement on Feb. 8, the very day before the Florida House voted to put the governor in charge. They knew what was coming and had a plan. The Board had a public meeting, but didn’t get into great detail about the document before unanimously voting to approve it…. One of the funniest parts of the declaration is the following rule: The declaration is valid until “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England.”
Click through for details. DeSantis thought he was so smart appointing his own board to control Disnet territory. Dunning-Kruger prevented him from realizing that Disney has real lawyers – and real mockery.
The First Amendment Encyclopedia – Actual Malice
Quote – Actual malice is the legal standard established by the Supreme Court for libel cases to determine when public officials or public figures may recover damages in lawsuits against the news media…. Beginning with the unanimous decision in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), the Supreme Court has held that public officials cannot recover damages for libel without proving that a statement was made with actual malice — defined as “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
Click through for article. When we non lawyers hear the word “malice,” we think of feelings – a hatred of someone or something, and a desire to harm that target. But that’s not what it means in law. Dominion has received summary judgment against Fox for everything except Actual Malice (and therefore damages.) Given the texts and emails, I believe that too could be proven without a trial. The judge is probably thinking that those texts, emails, and other evidence need to bemore widely publicized.
Bonus: In the Public Interest – The Privatization of Everything: Now in Paperback
Just to announce that this book, subtitled “How the Plunder of Public Goods Transformed America and How We Can Fight Back,” has been reissued, now in paperback, which makes it both easier to handle and less expensive. So many people have fallen for the myth that “Government should be run like a business” -which may be applicable to authoritarian governments, but certainly not to a democracy – and if you are seeking talking points to push back, this would be a great source.
Food For Thought
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
~ Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
As someone who takes Dylan Thomas’ advice to heart, I’m please to let centenarian and “Craftivist” Grace Linn introduce herself to us all:
“I am Grace Linn. I am a hundred years young. I’m here to protest our school’s district book-banning policy. My husband, Robert Nicoll, was killed in action in World War II at a very young age. He was only 26, defending our democracy, Constitution, and freedoms.”
And with that opening salvo clearly aimed at DeSantis earlier this week, Grace Linn brought the house down at the latest Martin County School Board meeting in Florida! Most of the 500-plus overflow crowd was there to show their support for Ms. Linn’s personal and heartfelt protest of Ron DeSantis’ fascist book banning obsession.
She continued:
“One of the freedoms that the Nazis crushed was the freedom to read the books they banned. They stopped the free press and banned and burned books. The freedom to read, which is protected by the First Amendment, is our essential right and duty of our democracy. Even so, it is continually under attack by both the public and private groups who think they hold the truth.”
While addressing the crowd comfortably seated on her walker, a friend of hers displayed the quilt she made last year of just some of the books that have been banned. At DeSantis’ goading, Florida’s public schools’ libraries have now banned close to 200 “offensive” tomes from their shelves.
Each square of Linn’s quilt shows a stack of books that have been banned and targeted – many of which have been penned by authors honored with numerous literary awards, including several by Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison.
Linn said that burning books and banning books is done for the same reason: fear of knowledge.
She made clear she was there to oppose Florida’s schools that are being goaded by DeSantis to ban books that irritate right-wingers and evangelical fundamentalists – a danger she compares to the evil her first husband fought and died for fighting against Nazism in WWII.
“Banning books and burning books are the same. Both are done for the same reason. Fear of knowledge. Fear is not freedom. Fear is not liberty. Fear is control. My husband died as a father of freedom. I am a mother of liberty. Banned books need to be proudly displayed and protected from school boards like this. Thank you very much.”
On her departure, Ms. Linn was greeted as the hero she truly is …
During a later interview Ms. Linn explained the purpose of her quilt:
“To remind all of us that these few of so many more books that are banned and targeted need to be proudly displayed and protected—and read, if you choose to.”
Having lost her first husband in WWII’s battle against Nazis and Fascists, along with two brothers (one who was wounded while battling Hitler’s forces and the other suffering PTSD from personally participating in the liberation of Auschwitz), Ms. Linn (who still drives and lives by herself) promised to continue the good fight.
“I always feel that it’s my duty. When history is forgotten or not used and not allowed to be used, history will repeat itself and we had enough of that during the Nazism that occurred in Germany.”
What’s a class president, who is a gay activist and just chosen to give his high school’s Commencement Address, to do when he’s called into the principal’s office and told he can NOT say the word “GAY” during his speech. And if he does, his microphone will be cutoff, and the graduation ceremony ended.
That was the dilemma facing Zander Moricz just a few weeks ago.
Zander had been elected class president each of his four years at Pine View High School for the Gifted in Osprey, FL, and came out in his freshman year because of the supportive environment at Pine View.
He has been an activist against Gov. DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” (Parental Rights in Education) bill, leading a school protest walkout in March along with organizing a similar protest in downtown Sarasota attended by hundreds of people, including the mayor and county commissioners, before DeSantis signed Florida House Bill – HB 1557 into law.
In fact, Moricz is the youngest plaintiff in a lawsuit against DeSantis and HB 1557:
As class president he was accustomed to being called into Principal Stephen Covert’s office for meetings – but Zander immediately felt this one was going to be different. He was warned that if mentioned the word “gay” or alluded to his activism his microphone would be cutoff.
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help. 🧵
— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) May 9, 2022
I am the youngest public plaintiff in the “Don’t Say Gay” lawsuit. I am my Florida high school’s first openly-gay Class President. I am being silenced, and I need your help.
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
— zander moricz (@zandermoricz) May 9, 2022
A few days ago, my principal called me into his office and informed me that if my graduation speech referenced my activism or role as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, school administration had a signal to cut off my microphone, end my speech, and halt the ceremony. (2/8)
At what should be one of a student’s most joyous moments, Moricz now faced a dilemma he hadn’t anticipated: “I cannot ruin something that hundreds of my friends have worked for, for years. I will not take away their moment simply because we have an administrator and a government that is telling us that those are the two choices.”
At the same time Moricz says he would also not compromise his principles. “That is something that I will not compromise over anything at any point in time. I will simply find a way to have both.”
But Moricz gave Principal Covert his word that he would conform to the school’s wishes. As the adage goes: Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Tasked with staying true to his principles while keeping his word to his principal, Moricz found the perfect metaphor for “Gay”: His curly hair!
During his Commencement speech, after a few brief introductory remarks, Moricz brilliantly transitioned to a metaphor for his being gay and the damage that Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill will do to students in the LGBTQ community.
“I used to hate my curls. I spent mornings and nights embarrassed of them, trying desperately to straighten this part of who I am—but the daily damage of trying to fix myself became too much to endure.
“So, while having curly hair in Florida is difficult—due to the humidity—I decided to be proud of who I was and started coming to school as my authentic self.”
He shared that a teacher, Ms. Ballard, answered his questions “because I didn’t have other curly-haired people to talk to,” and that he found support from other students and adults.
“It’s because of the love I’ve drawn from this community that I came out to my family. Now I’m happy…. And that is what is at stake. There are going to be so many kids with curly hair who need a community like Pine View and they won’t have one.”
After receiving a standing ovation for his speech, Moricz was interviewed on ABC’s Good Morning America:
On a more serious note, he spoke with NBC News concerning the federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the price he has paid for his activism:
Moricz joined a group of over a dozen students, parents, educators and advocates who have filed a federal lawsuit against DeSantis and the state’s Board of Education, alleging the law would “stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.”
“The reason something like the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law seems like nothing but is actually everything is that when you cannot talk about or share who you are, there is a constant subconscious affirmation that you are not valid, that you should not exist,” Moricz said.
This fight against the legislation is personal for Moricz, explaining it was because of his school’s support system that enabled him to become confident about his sexuality.
“I would not be fighting for these things, I would not be standing up for these causes in the way that I am, if I had not been able to do so at school first. I think in the same way that school is where you learn so many important things about life, you also learn about yourself, and that looks different for LGBTQ kids.”
But there has been a price Moricz has had to pay for his activism. He has been harassed online and has received in-person and online death threats from strangers. He even said strangers have come, unannounced, to his parents’ offices looking for him.
“I do not feel safe operating as an individual on a day-to-day basis in my county. Pineview as a student community has been incredible for me. Sarasota as a community has been something I’ve had to endure.”
But I doubt this will be the last we hear from Zander Moricz. This fall he will begin his government studies at Harvard.
The world could use more chutzpah like that of Zander Moricz.
As we all know, Gov. DeSantis of Florida has decided to ban math books that might put him and the GQP in an unflattering light.
But conscientious, patriotic citizens have stepped up to help out by creating useful arithmetic problems and teaching aids. For example, try solving these problems in the new Florida math book:
[1] An orange man gets 74 million votes, but his opponent gets 81 million.
Show how 74 million is greater than 81 million.
[2] Orange man receives 11,780 votes less than his opponent. How many more votes need to be “found” after the election in order for the orange man to claim victory?
[NOTE: This is actually a trick question. The correct answer is ZERO. The orange man will claim he won anyway.]
Folks decided that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL U-Really-18) could actually serve a useful teaching tool moment:
And Stephen Colbert (who authored the question) came up with the correct answer: “School Supplies”.
So what’s the real reason DeSantis is having Florida ban math books? He HATES seeing the “EQUAL” sign.
Sticking with DeSantis and Gaetz, the pedophile representative from Florida has changed his plans for one of the final rites-of-passage of High School students:
With Gaetz boycotting Disney, there’s now at least ONE safe place in Florida where teenage girls can go.
Before whiteboards, many of us can recall chalkboards or blackboards. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) certainly is of that age – but apparently she must have suffered a terrible chalk incident in her childhood. Because when someone wrote a chalk message in front of her Bangor house, she actually called the cops on them!
i was already laughing then i saw the actual thing she called the cops about and lost it lmao https://t.co/neQWGYy5eR pic.twitter.com/4Y9JOGSPEq
— Brandy Jensen (@BrandyLJensen) May 10, 2022
But later, Collins decided to make lemonade out of lemons even though she was still recovering from her frightening Chalk foray. So during her recent photo-op visit to Ukraine she extended a thoughtful invitation to Pres. Zelensky:
“I’ve invited President Zelensky to visit the war-torn, chalked sidewalks of Maine, so he realizes it’s not just Ukraine.” – Susan Collins
— Hoodlum 🇺🇸 (@NotHoodlum) May 14, 2022
(No doubt she also took the time to tell Zelensky that she is “sure” that Putin “has learned his lesson”.)
But Collins is not entirely done waging her battle against the vicious chalking her sidewalk received. She’s talking about removing those easily available terrorist kits from the store shelves that we so often see right before the start of the school year …
Truth be told, Susan’s real goal is to ban all those high-capacity chalk magazines that us oldster remember from music class in grade school:
She’s discussed this issue with her staff and noted that whenever and wherever they appear, there’s always discord and treble ahead. She wants everyone to keep a sharp eye out for them.
Why, she even has thought about throwing them in jail because she really feels they should be under a rest.
I hope this wasn’t too upsetting, because I want to leave everyone in harmony. Don’t worry – I’ll be Bach.