SCOTUS – Page 7 – Politics Plus

Open Thread July 17, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:00 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 172023

Yesterday was the first really hot day we have had this year. It reached 95°F in my area, and it’s often – usually, TBH – wormer in Pueblo than here, but that’s not predictable. However, I would not be surprised if it broke 100°F there. But the AC was working just fine, so I wasn’t uncomfortable.. Sometime in the last couple of weeks the facility had found some cards somewhere, so we played cribbage. The deck was not new, but it was complete, and it worked. Virgil returns all greetings. At home, I have finished the Nancy Pelosi Barbie but have no pictures yet. Doing an image search it appears I also have never posted any pics of the Kamala Harris Barbie. That at least I can do. RBG will take a lot longer because of the robe being satin, and the rayon thread being so fine it will take at least as many stitches as a sweater for a tall human, and I’ll have to be on constant guard against them sliding off and needing to be picked up – shiny rayon is slippery. And Michelle Obama will take longer yet because of the need for working in beads (I decided on the first inaugural.) Here’s hoping I live long enough!

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

New York Times (no paywall) – A Federal Judge Asks: Does the Supreme Court Realize How Bad It Smells?
Quote – Reasonable people may disagree on this. The more important, uncontroversial point is that if there will not be formal ethical constraints on our Supreme Court — or even if there will be — its justices must have functioning noses. They must keep themselves far from any conduct with a dubious aroma, even if it may not breach a formal rule. The fact is, when you become a judge, stuff happens. Many years ago, as a fairly new federal magistrate judge, I was chatting about our kids with a local attorney I knew only slightly. As our conversation unfolded, he mentioned that he’d been planning to take his 10-year-old to a Red Sox game that weekend but their plan had fallen through. Would I like to use his tickets?
Click through for full opinion. This article was gifted to me (and therefore to us) by one of the Substack authors I subscribe to. It’s not long, and it’s very well written. I hope it helps – but you can’t shame people who have no shame.

Crooks & Liars – Progress Action Fund: Ohio Republicans In Your Bedroom
Quote – As Ohio prepares to vote on August 8 on Ohio Issue 1 a Democratic super PAC put out this titillating ad. How it registers with voters remains to be seen. Generally speaking, voters giving away their rights for nothing isn’t that popular but Ohio Republicans have made a concerted effort to convince voters otherwise.
Click through for story and ad. Yes, I know I’ve posted about this election in Ohio before, in both threads. But this ad – well.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/11/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 11:55 am Open Thread, Politics

Jul 112023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump co-conspirator Walt Nauta finally gets lawyer, pleads not guilty. Is there still time to flip?

The Lincoln Project – Bidenomics is Working

Thom Hartmann – This Sheriff Is Giving YOUR License Plate Info To Extremist Groups & He’s NOT Alone

Robert Reich – We Need Affordable Childcare, Now

Scared Dog Who Approached Rescuers Is The Most Trusting Girl Now

Beau – Let’s talk about SCOTUS not retiring….

Open Thread July 10, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:13 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 102023

Yesterday, our Mitch had a photo of a sunset over Tampa Bay picked up by Axios and used in their local newsletter. Congratulatons, Mitch! While we’re speaking of Florida, I think my favoride nickname for her Governor is still Ron DeSaster, but Steve Schmidt just came up with a grest contender – “The Tallahassee Mussolini.” Also, I learned that Wonkette is moving to Substack.

Cartoon – 10 0710Cartoon.jpg

Short Takes –

Salon – Ecosystem collapse could occur “surprisingly quickly,” study finds
Quote – Yet humanity may not need to wait until the late 21st Century for climate change to bring about real-world apocalyptic conditions. This will especially be so if ecosystems undergo abrupt changes after too many extreme weather events occur, one after another after another. According to a new study in the scientific journal Nature Sustainability, that scenario might indeed occur sooner rather than later…. “We show that the combination of additional stresses and/or the inclusion of noise [such as variables like El Niño] brings ecosystem collapses substantially closer to today by ~38–81%,” Willcock explained. “We also show that, if you were focused on just one stress – because it was easier to measure, for example – the ecosystem collapse may occur at stress levels you thought were safe (i.e. due to the pressure of the stresses you are not observing).”
Click through for more information. I won’t say what I’m thinking, lest it sound like a sick joke.

Letters from an American – July 8, 2023
Quote – Reacting to that nomination, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) recognized the importance of the Fourteenth Amendment to equality: “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….”
Click through for the letter, Heather puts it all together – from the Dred Scott decision , the 3th and 14th amendments, through originalism, and Ted Kennedy being prescient about Rbert Bork. (Does anyone besides me find it very expressive that “borked” now means broken, non-functioning, messed up?)

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/6/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:00 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 062023

Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s danger continues: he posts Obama’s home address; armed Trump supporter heads to the address

The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – July 3, 2023

Robert Reich – Republicans Don’t Own Patriotism

Parody Project – Court for Sale

Sister Cats Take Turns Being Moms To Their Eight Kittens (I’m not sure whether they are blood sisters or “frosted” sisters – Dodo tends to “humanize” relationships)

Beau – Let’s talk about Chris Christie’s campaign….

Open Thread July 5, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:04 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 052023

Yesterday, It was, of course, a holiday, which was a good thing, since I was still having trouble with my shoulder. (Not that a holiday normally affects my schedule, but the drop-off in emails and news was a serious help.) I hadn’t slept much Monday night on account of my left shoulder – I could probably get to sleep with/sleep through that level of pain if it stayed level, but instead it was intensifying and dropping off at intervals of 1-2 seconds. Knowing the next twinge was coming, over and over, kept me focused on that. Finally I gave up and got up for a couple of hours, dealt with some email, found a short take or two, and after about an hour noticed that the twingeing was gone. So I went back to bed, and got back up in mid-afternoon. I don’t know whether anyone noticed Nameless’s comment telling me I had scooped Daily Kos with a video I posted of a flying squirrel faking his own death and setting up a crime scene? Well, yesterday Ilearned that I had also scooped Crooks and Liars with the story on the hundredth-birthday dog parade. I did end up looking up the “Capitol Fourth” on PBS (same people who organize the Memorial Day Concert, but different cast and different ambiance.)

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Short Takes –

PolitiZoom – Neal Katyal Asserts Colorado AG Can Force SCOTUS to Rehear 303 Creative Case
Quote – [F]ormer Obama Solicitor General Neal Katyal appeared on Michael Steele’s MSNBC show today to assert that in light of new evidence that the Colorado web designer who brought the 303 Creative case, and who in fact does not design web-sites, willfully misrepresented the basic facts of her complaint, that the Attorney General of Colorado can force SCOTUS to rehear matter.
Click through for details, why and how. Neal just argued and won Moore v. Harper. I’d listen to him. My AG’s “Contact” website was borked, but if necessary, I’ll send him a snailmail.

John Pavlovitz
Quote – But there are times and there are events that defy this idea. Some things are bad and we cannot and should not minimize their implications on people or the planet. This has been a bad week for diverse humanity. It has been a bad week for vulnerable people. It’s been a bad week for racial equity. It’s been a bad week for people buried in debt. And, it’s been a bad week for those of us who grieve the erasing of so much progress in such a short time, even if we saw it coming, even if it felt like a foregone conclusion. Nothing really prepares you to see your worst fears realized.
Click through for full article. This is John’s email for the Fourth (which actually arrived on the third) and, while this message is always good to remember, I agree there are many decent Americans who really need to be reminded right now.

Food For Thought

Video Thread 7/4/2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 12:09 pm Open Thread, Politics

Jul 042023

In lieu of Glenn’s June recap – not a lwayer, but a legal discussion.
MSNBC – Ending affirmative action: the result of a 50-year Republican passion project

The Lincoln Project – Other Than His Crimes

CBS – Man arrested near Obama’s D.C. home for alleged threats

Parody Project – Fourth of July Special – A New Verse for the National Anthem

Foster Dog Refuses To Leave Her Crate For Weeks

Beau – Let’s talk about Trump, Smith, and a pair of Queens….

Open Thread July 4, 2023

Posted by Joanne Dixon at 6:02 am Open Thread, Personal, Politics

Jul 042023

Yesterday, I seriously overslept – by choice – but it did cut into my working time. I’ve been having some issues with pain cutting into both my sleeo time but, even more to the point, into the amount of actual rest/recovery I get when I am asleep. I ran the TENS for extra time today, which has helped – I don’t suppose this will resolve the issue, so I’ll keep on it. On a brighter note, The New Yorker decided to run a group of 9 Name Drop quizzes together, all of them on literary figures (which helped up front), and I actually got all of them. Not spectadularly – five of the nine on the las clue and the rest somewhere between the socond and the fifth – but I’m still quite pleased about it. (I bombed the daily one, though.)

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Short Takes –

Axios – Scoop: Hunter Biden’s lawyer roasts IRS whistleblowers in message to GOP chair
Quote – Why it matters: The White House has been struggling to answer questions about the IRS agent transcripts over the past week, but Hunter’s lawyer Abbe Lowell is now taking the lead in fighting back against the Republican-led committee. The letter comes after Chair Jason Smith last week released transcripts of interviews with two IRS agents who claimed that the investigation into Hunter Biden was improperly handled along with a purported WhatsApp message that showed Hunter leveraging his father to close a business deal.
Click through for article (and full 10-page letter). I’m glad they are pushing back – no that anything we say will get through to MAGAt cultists, but there are sane people out there who need to get exposed to facts.

Letters from an American – June 30, 2023
Quote – It turned out that limiting the Fourteenth Amendment to questions of race and letting states choose their voters cemented the power of a minority. The abandonment of federal protection for voting enabled white southerners to abandon democracy and set up a one-party state that kept Black and Brown Americans as well as white women subservient to white men. As in all one-party states, there was little oversight of corruption and no guarantee that laws would be enforced, leaving minorities and women at the mercy of a legal system that often looked the other way when white criminals committed rape and murder. Many Americans tut-tutted about lynching and the cordons around Black life, but industrialists insisted on keeping the federal government small because they wanted to make sure it could not regulate their businesses or tax them. They liked keeping power at the state level; state governments were far easier to dominate. Southerners understood that overlap: when a group of southern lawmakers in 1890 wrote a defense of the South’s refusal to let Black men vote, they “respectfully dedicated” the book to “the business men of the North.”
Click through for full letter (as always, click “Continue reading”). It’s an historian’s view of the SCOTUS’s recent prejudicial decisions in the context of out history.

Food For Thought