crickets
crickets's JournalAgreed. "There is a lack of moral authority on the supreme court right now..."
I find the 'right now' part of this quote from Pengelly's tweet most telling. Lack of moral authority existed the moment Clarence Thomas was confirmed in spite of Anita Hill's credible testimony. Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation was a blatant doubling down. There has been no SCOTUS moral authority for decades.
Do You Believe Her Now?
It’s time to reexamine the evidence that Clarence Thomas lied to get onto the Supreme Court — and to talk seriously about impeachment.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/02/the-case-for-impeaching-clarence-thomas.html
February 19, 2018
But, most of all, because Thomas, as a crucial vote on the Supreme Court, holds incredible power over women’s rights, workplace, reproductive, and otherwise. His worldview, with its consistent objectification of women, is the one that’s shaping the contours of what’s possible for women in America today, more than that of just about any man alive, save for his fellow justices.
And given the evidence that’s come out in the years since, it’s also time to raise the possibility of impeachment. Not because he watched porn on his own time, of course. Not because he talked about it with a female colleague — although our understanding of the real workplace harm that kind of sexual harassment does to women has evolved dramatically in the years since, thanks in no small part to those very hearings. Nor is it even because he routinely violated the norms of good workplace behavior, in a way that seemed especially at odds with the elevated office he was seeking. It’s because of the lies he told, repeatedly and under oath, saying he had never talked to Hill about porn or to other women who worked with him about risqué subject matter.
*eyeroll* at the tentative Dems and media comment. In the face of Moscow Mitch's Senate, neither Democratic nor media reaction mattered when Kavanaugh came along to lie just as unconvincingly.
The number of women who still refuse to speak up or are actively working to undercut women fighting against sexual harassment - then and now - is depressing. It's true that Biden could have done more during the Clarence Thomas hearings, but in the "gentleman's agreement" milieu of the day, he did not. He has since apologized to Hill, though it's too little, too late at this point.
Above and beyond the issues of sexual discrimination is this: During the hearings, Thomas "huddled with GOP congressmen to brainstorm what damaging information he could unearth" on Anita Hill, and then he LIED to the Senate Judiciary Committee. A nominee to the highest court of the land LIED UNDER OATH, openly and without remorse.
Clarence Thomas is untrustworthy and unfit for his position. His motivation for any and every vote he has ever cast as a Justice is now suspect. No comment he has made about keeping his SC duties separate from his wife's activities can be taken seriously.
gratuitous, my reply to you was going to be a short "well said! doubt we'll get an impeachment, though" but then I ran across this article and just couldn't do it. I have come around.
Clarence Thomas never should have been seated on the SCOTUS, and he should be impeached. Regardless of whether anyone thinks it's possible to unseat him or not, the attempt must be made, for the very same reasons two impeachments were brought against tfg. The stakes are too high. The response is necessary.
Cruz, Hawley, Graham, And Cotton Don't Show Up For ABA Debunking Their Smears Of Judge Jackson
https://www.politicususa.com/2022/03/24/cruz-hawley-graham-and-cotton-dont-show-up-for-aba-debunking-their-smears-on-judge-jackson.htmlThe ABA Executive Board testified that they were surprised to find that there were no complaints from liberals, conservatives, prosecutors, or defense lawyers from Judge Jackson:
ABA Committee member says they were surprised to find zero criticisms of #KBJ "It is surprising that unanimously the bar appreciates judge Jackson and sees that she has high competency, integrity, and temperament." pic.twitter.com/QtZ222UtQG[snip]
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 24, 2022
The behavior of some of the Republicans on the Judiciary Committee was disgraceful, and it is even more contemptible that they lacked the decency to show up and hear the experts deliver the facts to counter the three days of lies that they previously put on display.
_____
Interesting how quickly the Klan disappeared once the American Bar Association showed up with lawyers and facts.
There is vital importance in the secret ballot
which curbs corruption and voter coercion and intimidation. In the US by the early/mid 1900s, it had broken the political stranglehold of the Robber Barons. Gee, wonder why someone would want to do away with it?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secret_ballot#United_States
https://congressionalresearch.org/SecretBallot.html
Now embraced as a ‘cornerstone of modern democracy,’ the secret ballot brought an immediate reduction to election violence, intimidation and bribery. It also curtailed the Robber Barons’ vice-grip control over elections and diminished their hold on the democratic process. By curbing the government capture of the Gilded Age, the secret ballot opened the door for the Progressive Era.
👆👆 Agreed.
Norms and the honor system are not always enough. Some of the children on the bench really do need rules to keep them coloring inside the lines, but the Supreme Court (Roberts in particular) doesn't want them.
https://thehill.com/regulation/administration/587848-roberts-calls-for-judicial-independence-in-year-end-report
"The Judiciary’s power to manage its internal affairs insulates courts from inappropriate political influence and is crucial to preserving public trust in its work as a separate and coequal branch of government," Roberts wrote in his 2021 year-end report on the federal judiciary, which was released on Friday.
What public trust? It's pretty well trashed these days, and Roberts' argument is a load of hogwash. "Independence" does not mean there is no need for codified norms, which (as you point out) the Court could impose upon itself. Voluntarily imposing ethics rules upon themselves might do some good in reestablishing trust with the public. This would have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with ethics, but Roberts chooses to ignore that.
YES! This holds a mirror up to all of the militia nonsense.
As much as I like Beau, I tend to keep him at arm's length for various reasons. Yeah, whatever - he really has stepped up in keeping people informed and in providing useful, thought provoking commentary on what's occurring in Ukraine.
He's pretty good at relating those events to what's going on around us here as well.
This installment is quite a moment. If you haven't heard any of his commentaries before now, this one is not to be missed. Most of his stuff runs under 7 minutes and this one is 11 and a half, so that's a big clue as to how important he thought it was. Every idiot running the gamut from "Yeehaw!" to "Wolverines!" gets a serious reality check here.
I've seen Beau angry before. I've seen him angry recently. Not like this, though. It's impressive, and important.
eta - if you can't stand the thought of watching an 11 minute video, I get it. Tune in at about 6:30 and give it 30 seconds or so. Please.
"Servant of the People" - All Seasons on YouTube w/ some English Subtitles
Playlists:
Слуга Народа: Season 1
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSoP62RB3ymnt6ct60SF-2ZsSpC_Mbrjv
Слуга Народа: Season 2 From Love to Impeachment
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSoP62RB3ymkxF5L17oKZp_xBzNRstdRU
Слуга Народа: Season 3 Choice
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSoP62RB3ymlTJFKQrPXJ30laWyeGfKZl
Wikipedia is helpful when trying to figure out what's going on and how many episodes per season to look for. The show starts out with English subtitles, but later on the subtitles are Russian and you have to turn on auto translate for English subtitles. From a few spot checks, auto translations in the second season seem pretty good, but in third season it looks a bit rough, unfortunately. HTH.
I was thinking, "Russian or not, I don't find death funn- oh."
Well, alrighty then. Target acquired. Proceed.
@MaxHanlon
The Russians are losing so many generals they’re gonna have to call up Mike Flynn from the bullpen.
5:48 PM · Mar 19, 2022
Perhaps the NYT Editorial Board has a free speech problem.
They need to go back and review what the Constitutional concept of free speech means.
https://xkcd.com/1357/ (worth clicking through to check the alt text)
GA Republican county chairwoman arrested in Jan. 6 investigation
https://www.ajc.com/news/investigations/republican-county-chairwoman-arrested-in-jan-6-investigation/YJI2APGSEBDGROFDAXVHKZE4HU/Mandy Robinson-Hand and her husband, Charles Hand III, were arrested Friday by the FBI and charged with four misdemeanors related to their alleged entry into the Capitol alongside hundreds of others in the pro-Trump crowd. Robinson-Hand is listed as chairwoman of the Taylor County Republican Party on the website of the Georgia Republican Party and her Facebook page shows she was involved in local politics in the Middle Georgia county. [snip]
Federal authorities identified the Hands from tips, surveillance camera and documentary film footage, and the electronic signatures from their cell phones, which investigators say put the couple in several locations inside the Capitol, according to an FBI affidavit filed in the case. [snip]
At one point in the video, Charles Hand appears to shout at Robinson-Hand, pulling her by the arm toward the crowd, then using his shoulder to push the mob as it tried to break the police line. But Charles Hand posted about the episode at length on his Facebook page, claiming that violence was caused by “Antifa sporting Trump gear.”
https://twitter.com/SpiroAgnewGhost/status/1503853120404680704
NEW: Republican county chairwoman from Georgia arrested in Jan. 6 investigation
The chairwoman of the Taylor County, GA Republican Party is facing four federal charges for her alleged role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
ajc.com
Republican county chairwoman arrested in Jan. 6 investigation
Republican county chairwoman Mandy Robinson-Hand arrested in Jan. 6 investigation
5:58 PM · Mar 15, 2022
Cliff Notes: Bill Barr's Book
https://twitter.com/caslernoel/status/1500965318738464779NoelCaslerComedy @caslernoel
Cliff Notes: Bill Barr’s Book
‘I heard there was a pyromaniac playing with matches. I brought him some gasoline and helped him evade the police. When I learned he wanted to burn the whole house down I quietly left thru the backdoor, didn’t tell anyone and secured a book deal.’
5:43 PM · Mar 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/MarylouMFerrara/status/1501032607567519748
Actually i didn’t quietly leave through the back door. Instead I wrote a groveling, obsequious letter praising the pyro. Then, when I got a book deal and had a chance to cash in, I went around acting like I had stood up to the pyro.
10:10 PM · Mar 7, 2022
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