Idaho’s Far Right Suffers Election Loss to 18-Year-Old Climate Activist
I’ve complained to friends and co-workers about how often my home state — and my hometown! — have been in the national spotlight for shitty reasons. This was a nice change.
Remember When Lindsey Graham Said Abortion Should Be Left to the States?
Justin Baragona, for The Daily Beast:
Against the backdrop of abortion rights becoming one of the top issues in the upcoming midterm elections, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) unveiled a proposed nationwide ban on abortion on Tuesday that would outlaw the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
It was just weeks ago, however, when Graham justified the Supreme Court’s landmark decision to overturn Roe v. Wade by claiming he’d been “consistent” in believing that abortion should be left to individual states.
The only thing consistent about Lindsey Graham is that he’ll do whatever he thinks is best for Lindsey Graham’s political future.
Republicans Move to Ban Abortion Nationwide
Josh Marshall, writing for Talking Points Memo after noted political opportunist Senator Lindsey Graham announced that he was introducing a bill that would ban abortion:
…Republicans want to portray this as a reasonable national compromise, setting a national standard as I’ve seen even some journalists put it. But that’s not what it is. It doesn’t set a national 15 or 20 week standard. All the total restrictions which are now common in red and some purple states stay in place. It simply takes the Mississippi law which brought us the Dobbs decision and imposes it on every blue state. So what Mississippi passed and which was treated as extreme a year ago will become the law in California, New York, Illinois, Washington state and everywhere else. In practice it’s a blue state abortion ban. Abortion’s already banned in the great majority of red states or soon will be.
Republicans leave the decision to the states. Unless a state protects abortion rights. In which case Republicans ban it for them.
Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals
Susan B. Glasser and Peter Baker in The New Yorker.
“They shook the very Republic to the core,” Milley would eventually reflect. “Can you imagine what a group of people who are much more capable could have done?”
The only thing that stopped the immorality of the Trump Administration and its failed coup was its own incompetence — and a few good men and women.
Voters in Kansas decide to keep abortion legal in the state, rejecting an amendment
A win for those who believe in basic human rights.
US sues Idaho over abortion law, cites medical treatment
More of this please.
And, as someone who grew up in Idaho: Fuck the Idaho Republican Party.
Child Support Is Bad Because It Encourages Abortions, GOP Lawmaker Says
Sharon Zhang, reporting for Truthout:
Republican Del. Chris Pritt said on the floor of the legislature that, if a man gets a woman pregnant, he may encourage or force a woman to get an abortion because of the possibility that he would have to pay child support if the fetus were carried to term. Thus, Pritt argued, child support is inconsistent with an anti-abortion ideology.
Justice Dept. investigating Trump’s actions in Jan. 6 criminal probe
Carol D. Leonnig, Devlin Barrett, Josh Dawsey and Spencer S. Hsu for The Washington Post:
The Justice Department is investigating President Donald Trump’s actions as part of its criminal probe of efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, according to four people familiar with the matter.
Finally.
The Bullshit Starts Flying
Seat-filler Samuel Alito, writing for the majority in Dobbs:
Finally, the dissent suggests that our decision calls into question Griswold, Eisenstadt, Lawrence, and Obergefell. But we have stated unequivocally that “[n]othing in this opinion should be understood to cast doubt on precedents that do not concern abortion.”
Seat-filler Clarence Thomas in his concurring opinion:
…in future cases, we should reconsider all of this Court’s substantive due process precedents, includ- ing Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell.
Kim Chandler reporting from Alabama for AP News on Wednesday:
In a brief filed Monday, the Alabama attorney general’s office argued similarly that gender transition treatments are not “deeply rooted in our history or traditions,” and thus the state has the authority to ban them. Alabama contends such treatments are dangerous and experimental, a view disputed by medical organizations.
Not even a week later and Alito’s bullshit is verified as bullshit.
Cassidy Hutchinson Held Their Manhoods Cheap
Tim Miller for The Bulwark:
This is why everyone I interviewed for my book was so filled with hatred for the Never Trumpers, the media, and the liberals in their life. It’s because they knew we were right. And were unwilling to do anything about it. So rather than deal with their own culpability and take responsibility for themselves, they demonized those of us who spoke the truth. Because every time one of us said what they knew, out loud, it was an implicit indictment of their character.
1868
The majority opinions in Dobbs are fixated on state laws regarding abortion in 1868 — the year the 14th Amendment was adopted. To quickly summarize their argument: "if abortion restrictions weren’t considered unconstitutional then, we can’t say they are unconstitutional now.” Of course, this argument doesn’t hold up when subjected to ‘thinking,’ but let’s take this to its natural conclusion and apply the standards of the late 1800s to the members of the Supreme Court who decided to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Neil Gorsuch gets off easy in 1868. He’s white, a practicing Anglican/Episcopalian, and white (NOT A TYPO). Because 1868 Neil Gorsuch would be free of judgment, I think it’s only fair that we share the 2022 judgment of an Episcopalian Reverend regarding the Dobbs decision: “…the Supreme Court’s devastating decision to assault the health and rights of pregnant Americans by striking down Roe v. Wade is a sin.”
Damn! No wonder he wants it to be 1868.Brett Kavanaugh is of Irish Catholic descent and in 1800s America “No Irish Need Apply.” While being Irish wouldn’t preclude him from practicing law or serving on the court, at that point in history it is arguably more likely that an Irish frat boy with a proclivity for alcohol would end up defending himself in a courtroom rather than presiding over one.
Have fun in lockup, Brett!The son of an Italian immigrant, Samuel Alito might not have a good time in late 1800s America. In 1891, eleven Italian immigrants were lynched by a mob in New Orleans. One of the mob's organizers? Future governor of Louisiana, John Parker. He once described Italians as "just a little worse than the Negro, being if anything filthier in [their] habits, lawless, and treacherous." Future President of the United States Teddy Roosevelt wrote in a letter to his sister that the lynching was a “good thing.” And even if 1800s Sam Alito was able to practice law, many would accuse him of being a mob lawyer because he’s Italian.
Good luck overcoming that rumor, Sam!In 1896 the Supreme Court ruled that segregation didn’t violate the 14th Amendment, making discrimination based on race perfectly fine in 1800s America. In fact, you could argue that racial discrimination is deeply rooted in our nation’s history and traditions. In 1868 Clarence Thomas wouldn’t be considered qualified to serve on the court because he is black. But even he doesn’t deserve the fate 1800s America would provide him — too bad he’s the one leading the charge in that direction. If he wants a return to the glory days of post-Civil War America maybe he should look into what Republicans of that era thought about seditionists.
In 1872 the Supreme Court ruled that it was perfectly legal to deny a woman a license to practice law merely on the basis of sex. If women could be barred from practicing law in 1872, why should Amy Coney Barrett be allowed to do so today? To quote the concurring opinion in that case: “The natural and proper timidity and delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many of the occupations of civil life.”
Amy should get back in the kitchen, where she thinks she should belong.
To recap: one would still sit on the Court, another would be in jail for public drunkenness (if he’s lucky) or rape (if he isn’t), a third is trying to convince you he isn’t in the mafia, a fourth is living through a crime against humanity, and a fifth is being chastised for not being pregnant right now.
They should sit down and think about their decision — they clearly didn’t do so the first time.
Nicole Carr, writing for ProPublica:
During her early visits, [Cecelia] Lewis found Cherokee County to be a welcoming place. It reminded her of her community in southern Maryland, where everyone knew one another. But leaving the place where she’d been raised — and where, aside from her undergrad years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she’d spent most of her adult life — wasn’t going to be easy. Before her last day as principal of her middle school, her staff created a legacy wall in her honor, plastering a phrase above student lockers that Lewis would say to end the morning messages each day: “If no one’s told you they care about you today, know that I do ... and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it!”
Lewis was beginning to prepare for her move South, spending as much time with friends and family as possible, when she got a strange call from an official in her new school district. The person on the line — Lewis won’t say who — asked if she had ever heard of CRT.
Lewis responded, “Yes — culturally responsive teaching.” She was thinking of the philosophy that connects a child’s cultural background to what they learn in school. For Lewis, who’d studied Japanese and Russian in college and more recently traveled to Ghana with the Fulbright-Hays Seminars Abroad program for teachers, language and culture were essential to understanding anyone’s experience.
At that point, she wasn’t even familiar with the other CRT, critical race theory, which maintains that racial bias is embedded in America’s laws and institutions and has caused disproportionate harm to people of color. In a speech the previous fall, then-President Donald Trump condemned CRT as “toxic propaganda” and “ideological poison.”
The actions taken by these people idiots in Cherokee County are despicable.
Canada declares the Proud Boys a terrorist group
Amanda Coletta for the Washington Post:
Canada on Wednesday declared the Proud Boys a terrorist entity, adding the far-right group to a list that includes al-Qaeda, ISIS and al-Shabab in an effort to crack down on "ideologically motivated violent extremism," described by the country's public safety minister as the "most significant threat to domestic security."
“Very fine people.”
Eli Grober’s wonderful send-up of Insurrectionist Josh Hawley in McSweeney’s:
Hi there, thanks for reading this. I’m being censored. That’s why I’m writing a piece in a major publication that you are consuming easily and for free. Because I am being absolutely and completely muzzled.
MPs unanimously agree to urge feds to designate Proud Boys a terrorist entity
It still requires action by Prime Minister Trudeau to become official. But this is the sad truth — the Canadian House of Commons is doing more to combat the alt-right and white supremacist organizations who attacked the US Capitol Building than the Republican members of Congress who were in the building while it was being attacked.
I wish I saw evidence these people had a conscience
Jake Tapper on CNN’s State of the Union:
And that is how the terrorist attack of January 6th happened. Millions of Americans infected with the virus of disinformation. It was a joint effort by far-right hate groups that the president has been playing footsy with for years and radicalized, infected Trump supporters, and MAGA media.
Multiple dead bodies later, no contrition, no apologies, no acknowledgment of what they did. Until those who spread the big lie work to correct it — putting out a vaccine of facts and truth — I fear that the U.S. will continue to be in this bad and dangerous place even after the inauguration. And I wish, in my soul, I wish, that I saw any evidence that any of these people had a conscience for this to even nag at.
Luke Mogelson for The New Yorker:
The America Firsters and other invaders fanned out in search of lawmakers, breaking into offices and revelling in their own astounding impunity. “Nancy, I’m ho-ome! ” a man taunted, mimicking Jack Nicholson’s character in “The Shining.” Someone else yelled, “1776—it’s now or never.” Around this time, Trump tweeted, “Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country. . . . USA demands the truth!” Twenty minutes later, Ashli Babbitt, a thirty-five-year-old woman from California, was fatally shot while climbing through a barricaded door that led to the Speaker’s lobby in the House chamber, where representatives were sheltering. The congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York, later said that she’d had a “close encounter” with rioters during which she thought she “was going to die.” Earlier that morning, another representative, Lauren Boebert—a newly elected Republican, from Colorado, who has praised QAnon and promised to wear her Glock in the Capitol—had tweeted, “Today is 1776.”
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Jordan Klepper Sees It All at The Capitol Insurrection
Jordan Klepper for The Daily Show:
Amendment XIV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution
No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.