The Justice Department today announced the arrest of Chinese billionaire Guo Wengui, also known as Ho Wan Kwok and Miles Guo, charged with defrauding followers of more than $1 billion.
The rank depravity of Republicans and those who fund them continues to surprise me. These people are plumbing depths of turpitude that seem boundless. May they somehow be brought to justice.
Rank depravity and a seemingly unbreakable link with radical right-wing "Christians," who are so holier-than-though that they are intent on forcing others to follow their shameful beliefs.
I had a good friend, a middle of the road R, until the Dobbs decision. He is Catholic and tried to rationalize Dobbs by telling me Euro countries have “reasonable” 15-week cutoffs. My response was that he had no right, in the name of his religion, to tell my daughter and my two granddaughters what they can do with their bodies. I have not spoken with him, or any othe Christo-fascist, since…I regret H. Clinton called roughly 70 million people “deplorables” — because it might have lost her the election. But she was absolutely correct.
It was a faux pas, for sure. But they are more like "vulnerables" first, who want a big daddy to tell them what to do. I am afraid God and Religion appear to produce vulnerables who are easy to bilk and easy targets for sexual abuse because they give their power away without critical thinking. Vulnerables are perfect targets for power seeking narcissists like trump and hitler to use very specific, authoritarian, "grooming tactics" upon. trump's rallies right from the start demonstrated he was a baby fascist seeking total power over "his people." When he is truly a very weak and empty vessel thanks to lack of good parenting and love. Vulnerables seek the safety of being part of a group...it could be church and safe or it could be the Proud Boys or the KKK where they feel empowered and strong but full of hatred and fear of the Other. It is maddening to have grown up with those kinds of men and to see them still operating freely in the open, intent on destroying nations and the earth. Kick them off the planet. A free, one way ride to Mars.
Research has been done on the differences between conservative and liberal brains.
This is a quote from a Scientific American article, October 26, 2020:
"On the whole, the research shows, conservatives desire security, predictability and authority more than liberals do, and liberals are more comfortable with novelty, nuance and complexity."
I've agreed with that overview since I first heard similar evaluations, even before 2020. (I'm just finishing up Thom Hartmann's "Cracking the Code. How to Win Hearts, Change Minds and Restore America's Original Vision.")
Excellent post and excellent description of these people who really lack self esteem. They get it from feeling superior to others and to show empathy of any kind would be unmanly. This same goes for women with this mentality. They get their self esteem from some male and/or once again feeling superior because they are white or they are "Christian" and have a special relationship with God. They are all nauseating.
I like your thinking Pensa_VT. Vulnerables so appropriate. Be careful when you swim out to save them they don’t grab on to you to drown with them as their ship has already sunk.
Catholics are often one issue voters. Now that the Dobbs decision was made they will push for the national ban. What is troubling, however, is that the bishops have recently begun to support the radical right beyond the abortion question, in a sharp swerve away from Catholic social justice teaching. It has finally driven me away,. For years, I would tolerate the church leadership by telling myself that the faithful are the church, not the hierarchy of priests and leaders. Too much corruption and now the support of the far right from so many bishops and priests are the proverbial straw.
I am sorry that you've recognized that your spiritual path has some things not desirable. I cheer you for the ability to see it and make a healthy decision for yourself. It must be a bit painful to reach that decision, but it demonstrates how healthy you are. And you will find something that is more true to your spirit, I am sure.
Carmen I just read that the Vatican has been ‘investigating’ 40 bishops for years regarding sex charges and have yet to release the results regarding many. Could these wayward priests be considered, in WW II terminology, a ‘Fifth Column?’ Do you think they are a small or large retrogressive element?
I have not followed in great detail all the elements regarding the sex scandals, on the surface a deeply troubling problem within the church. Political positions of the bishops is what has bothered me, and represents a divided church that needs much reform.
"Cathleen Kaveny, a theology and law professor at Boston College and Boston College Law School, told NCR that she thinks the bishops need to pivot from the way they have discussed abortion and reassert their independence from political parties."
A friend who was studying to be a minister was shocked after one of one of his classes. The subject matter of that class had him in tears. What put him in shock, had him in tears, was learning how much killing had been done in the name of Christ over the last 1500+ years. The Catholic Church of Rome in particular was the power behind and the perpetrator of the killing/ murdering of millions over millennia. Some estimate the total to be 170 million.
Unfortunately he wasn’t studying to become a Catholic priest/ minister. The Catholic Church teaching the true history of Catholicism to its future priests/ ministers…. one can only hope that day will come.
Well, there were multiple nails in her presidential coffin. But I am sure that Vladimir and his oligarchs, the Mercers (Manafort and Conway's benefactors), the Murdochs, the ignorant media, etc. all played a huge part is placing the fool's lying, golden calf on the throne in 2016.
Compared to the alternative, I'd take Hillary a thousand times over. I realize that many people disliked Hillary. For some "dislike" is mild. But she is smart. Savvy. Tenacious. Fighting within the world comprised mostly of males, many who are ignorant and consumed with excess hubris, her battlefield was well-laid-out. I dislike her smug arrogance, while understanding that was one card she had to play for her political survival.
I actually agree with you, Vince. And, I have always felt she was owned by corporations but trump is nothing BUT a corporation. The thing that is very hard, but also very good if we can breathe through it, is that our darkest shadows have now been revealed. Our good ol boy white patriarchy, and its' wish to maintain power above all costs. It's wish to not look at our decimations of Native people and their lands, of our enslavement and human trafficking and brutality on a massive scale just to build wealth and continue their caste systems that they brought here. It is time for America to wake up. That is why they project wokeism onto us as if it is negative. Not sure if you saw my earlier comment that I am spreading all over fox and sports pages-- here is an abstract of it:
"THE DEFINITION OF "WOKE" IS BEING AWARE OF AND ACTIVELY ATTENTIVE TO IMPORTANT SOCIETAL FACTS AND ISSUES (ESPECIALLY ISSUES OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE).
We should all embrace being awake. Preferable to being an idiot, no? I believe we need to let women have a chance and let the old white boy crony caste system fade away. But it appears to want to go screaming and kicking.
Yes, I saw your comments on WOKE. OMG. Our country is so full of slogans, and full of "it". There is a population of angry old white men who simply refuse to embrace truth and fact. In the '80s we had "double speak", translated into one thing being said while it meant something entirely different, like code. Then we came up with a system of speaking "nice", again code. It was pretend sensitvity and politeness, nastiness wrapped in a velvet cloak of deception. Now, the right has grabbed hold of "woke", which they clearly do not understand. Yet, that is so like the right wing (predominated by Republicans). Frankly, I believe they are so afraid -- of everything. It must be hell, living in such a tight and constrained bubble.
Yes--do any of them actually look truly happy? How can one be when one is full of fear, hatred, revenge and weakness passing off as toxic masculinity and superiority. I feel like we are living in a grade B movie and one bizarre character after another prances out on stage for more shock value. Shakespeare must have been a genius about humanity-- about this comic tragedy. Yin and yank. That is why I love this Heather's substack where people actually can communicate and learn with others. Thank you, Vince, this has been a great experience--I had to take a break for awhile from politics and today was my first real dip back. Pleased to meet you! Appears you might be Vince the Lion-Hearted One (or Leo).
Hello! Thank you for your thoughtful response. Back atcha! Republicans are deplete of compassion, care and humanity. I am confident there are some like them in the Democratic Party (I am an Independent and have been for years). But Republicans get the trophy for performative nastiness, lying, deception, foolishness, brash immaturity and full disregard for our constitutional democratic republic. At times I feel so much rage, anger and outrage that I, too, must pull away from time to time. Republicans are so miserable and disloyal in their own skin they must try to seduce us into their blatant, sordid misery. Misery loves company! I refuse to join their dreary, dismal parade.
There is a very interesting episodic film called Messiah: So That Seeing They May Not See. I started to watch it a second time after a few years and suddenly understand what the film is trying to say about Confusion being necessary to break us up out of patterns and complacency.
I cannot remember if I ever finished the series the first time around, but really find a parallel with the message of needing to create change and how that happens from within each one of us. First we experience the harsh upside down alternative realities and lies that force us to think and act so we can evolve. I might be wrong, but I think that is the message I am getting from this film. Very thought provoking. Cheers!
By the way, your reference to the Lion and "Leo" resonated resoundingly with me. My rising sign is "Leo". The Lion is in my avatar, the Lion Rampant of Scotland. That avatar is not here, obviously.
Yeah, but it will not help them to become awakened! They do not respond to things they have to look up and learn about. They need soundbite definitions of their faux pas.
Michele I identify with your semi-Ludditeness regarding new technology. My 22 year old grand son is with us today. In technology he is light years ahead of me and Georgia. However, we don’t seek to abolish hi-tech technology. We simply seek to struggle along at our own slightly enhanced levels with occasional tech bail outs from grand kids.
ALSO, you like me are open to change and, on occasion, are change agents. We read, we think, and we struggle with those damnable computer chips.
Fortunately, my husband understands this stuff. I do have a I phone and I can get it open and call on it and that's about it. We had to get me a real camera because I kept taking selfies by accident. He sighs a lot.
Sadly, Michael, many Christians have stopped reading about Christ their Savior in light of todays issues or praying and listening to His directives and are ignorantly listening to opinions from the pulpit. It takes thought and courage to face that our country is truly going through dangerous times. It is difficult to turn from a place of worship in which you have trusted....from the opinions of lifelong friends. ...perhaps from a political party one has trusted in the past.
True faith is living and active. The group mentality can take the form of becoming "brainwashed." Religious leaders were imprisoned and some died during Hitler's reign. Wake up my friends of faith!!! Look at what is taking place on front of you!
For those of you who believe a woman should never have a right to an abortion, open your homes to adopt.
Personally I think men should bear responsibility for the lives they have begun. The egg can not begin life alone....yet....there it is the truth.....the big bad men want no part. What is a woman to do....what is the world to do about life.
The "Right for Life Movement" is being used by men once more to gain power. Wake up good Christian people.
YES, continued oppression of women and all non-whites is their desire in order to stay in power. You know, the only way to try to keep women down is to keep them barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. This old iron triangle patriarchy has many more things to learn in 2023— none of us are going backwards to be their slaves anymore. They need to evolve and be human beings with consciousness' or crawl back into their caves and we will just slide the rock over the entrance.
I just watched a documentary on the "Martha Mitchell Effect." Really ticked me off what Nixon and John Mitchell did to her when she was speaking out loudly about their corruption...this is serious folks. Men, big egos, power and greed are toxic for us and the planet. Justice must be more swift. Presidential pardons for criminal activities should be against the law. Thank goodness for women judges and good men who believe in the Rule of Law equality. We all have to use our gift of intelligence with heart and stand up for the ALL the people and the planet.
Emily Genuine Christians acknowledge and follow Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan. That should be a litmus test for so-called ‘evangelical Christians.’
Incidentally, I just read an article in which three evangelical Christian pastors justified having their flock buy them $54 million Gulf Steam jets so that they could be ‘nearer to God.’
Jesus rode a donkey and was as close to God as one can get.
Carmen Now you are out of my league. I was brought up with Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (slipped in at the Council of Nicaea in 325). How can Jesus be the son of God and also God?
P. S. Now the Holy Ghost is called the Holy Spirit, which I find a bit spooky.
Trinitarian theology. Lots of dispute and debate but eventually it was decided that God is three co-equal and eternal persons. God humbled himself to assume human flesh in the person of the son. The easiest explanation is that it is a mystery and an article of faith. There's no good logical HUMAN explanation.
Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea to deal with some alternative interpretations. The Creed was the result. I am never sure of Constantine's intent except he wanted to eliminate all who stood in his way and have the final word.
Michele Constantine apparently had a vision about 311 before a battle that turned him towards Jesus Christ. [Reminiscent of Paul’s vision that turned him from anti-Jesus to Jesus’s devoted disciple?]
Eventually he called the Council of Nicaea in 325 to work out some theological issues. The Holy Ghost was one such negotiated addition. This was a major step in Christianity moving from a persecuted religion to being the religion of the Roman Empire.
Yes, but I have questions about his Christianity. I read all about this in the bio I read about his mother which had a lot more about him actually. I see his conversion as a part of the road to Christian authoritarianism. (I did enjoy his mother's story from a concubine of his father to mother of an emperor and finder of the True Cross.) A constant theme was that he let no one or anything stand in his way to complete control.
Keith, I recently read a book about Constantine's mother and the Council of Nicaea was during his watch. I am not sure Constantine was much of a Christian, but he found it useful. Of course, that didn't stop him from doing in his son among others. I think in many ways very early ordinary Christians were not as intolerant until Church fathers, emperors, and assorted "saints" took over. Love your postscript.
Correct Liz. The "Godhead" has three aspects: Creator, Redeemer, and Guiding Presence. The Triune God is one way of grasping what is basically ungraspable for humans.
I have heard God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost as One. And I have heard that each is separate. My grandfather was a Catholic, however; I only know this by going to his funeral when I was six years old. His wife, my grandmother, was a Protestant that I hardly remember going to church but she was a good hard working woman that I loved dearly. She was not educated beyond grammer school. My other grandmother was a Jehovah's Witness. I don't remember her husband and by wonderful kind well thought of grandfather ever stepping foot in a church. I went to church with our neighbors around the age of 10. I remember being in Sunday School class and the teacher ask if we were sinners and to hold up our hands if we were. I didn't think I had sinned so I didn't hold up my hand. I was so embarrassed when she said we were born sinners! Who would have thought! I know attend church on the internet on Sunday after I watch Sunday Morning on CBS.
Carmen ! JESUS ! IS ,..... The SON ! of GOD ! HE came to US to Do the WILL, of HIS FATHER ! and to Please HIS FATHER ! LUKE 23 /35 thru 46 PSALM 31/ 4 & 5 ACTS 7/ 58 thru 60 ACTS 2/37 thru 39 ! Blessings !.......
Keith, I saw two of the three pastors interviewed. They weren't all Gulfstreams, but you got the gist absolutely right.
One of the pastors told his congregation that Jesus told him he needed a new jet. The other one justified it by telling his church that he couldn't pray or read the Bible while he was locked up in a commercial jet with sinners. I was so disgusted at these grifters that I turned the TV off and never went back to that channel. I can't cite the show, but I am so thankful that those "pastors" do not represent the clergy any more than trump represents the presidency....
I have never seen anyone that believed a woman should never have a right to an abortion adopt a child in my 79 years. I have only seen those that could not have a child or were having problems with conception adopt a wanted child. Sorry to say most of those have not worked out so well.
I just wish that there was a 50/50 chance that males could get PG. All this would change in a hurry. I am truly bothered by sanctimonious males staunchly supporting their so called pro life stance.
My childish impression of Jesus is that we are all a part of god which is Love and we have the ability to choose to not throw stones or judge others (or break HIPPAA regulations and look at private medical records that are none of your beeswax). Just Love or let them/us be. Seems simple enough that we should all understand that, but for some troublesome parts of ourselves called Egos.
Didn't someone say "Love is all there is!" My come to Jesus moments have been nature, with friends and listening to the Beatles—who sang all about Love. John Lennon's "Imagine" says it all and can bring me to tears with all that imagining of the world as I wish it was. I think there is Love,or the absence of love. It is very easy to tell them apart by how you feel. We have free will and the power to choose Love.
The first time I heard trump speak, I felt he was a total absence of love. Hitler too. They are wired differently. It would be a loving thing for the world to lock those kinds of guys the F up ...and love them from afar, really afar. (It think I owe a quarter for that F, dang! Worth it sometimes... )
Mary The only source for what Jesus said is the four Gospels (and others that were not included, including the Thomas Gospel). Also, do we have any evidence that ‘abortion’ was an issue back then? Or when the Constitution was debated and signed?
I cannot comment on all religions. I am aware that some Christian institutions have distorted Jesus central messages of love and caring for neighbors and, gasp, enemies.
Some time ago one reader here contributed a link from a Christian forum that stands firmly against Christian Nationalism and embraces the ideals that most readers here have, including that all people should be free to practice whatever religion they choose to embrace. I hope that reader posts that link again. I am a dunce at linking stuff
I just listened to Rachel Madow's "Ultra" Podcast wherein she describes how a Nazi agent, planted in the United States in Washington, prior to WWII, recruits no less than 24 (TWENTY FOUR) Congressmen, all Republicans, in the United States Senate and Congress to disseminate millions of letters containing Nazi propaganda written in Germany.
This Nazi agent recruited our Congressmen by paying them. Straight up paying them to say and do and mail what he wanted them to mail.
These 24 Congressmen called themselves? Yep, "The America FIRST Committee".
So, Apparently, it is pretty easy to find some white guys in Washington to pay off with money. Nazi's do it.
Putin is doing it now and we can hear Putin speaking through the paid off Republicans every day.
However, it is all legal. Not one of the 24 traitors went to jail. I guess it is just not possible to arrest a white man on the dole in Congress. Too much against American "culture".
Plus, after all, they put "America First". I am certain that Trump is a paid stooge of Putin.
I am equally certain that DeSantis is a paid stooge of Putin. All legal though.
Since they are not Chinese, but, White, they cannot be arrested.
Rachel Maddow, like Heather Cox Richardson, is a national treasure. She saw the staggering importance of the "Ultra" story that was left out of the history books and almost irretrievable, and she took the time off from her high profile job at MSNBC to work on it exclusively. A chilling moment in the podcast for me was when the PhD historian said that she never learned about this and most historians didn't. I keep expecting HCR to write about it, and am curious that she hasn't, unless I missed it. Anyway, Mike S., I wanted to make the point that these acts of insurrection were indeed illegal, but the courtroom was so corrupted by the antics of the America First crowd that they were unable to give them a fair trial. The ballot box was the real solution. Which makes today's assault on voting integrity so dangerous.
I suspect that a lot of corruption that is growing in our society is technically illegal on some level, but money and cronyism buys the perpetrators a pass. The contrast in the treatment of the right wing (such as Cliven Bundy) and somewhat left wing and/or black defendants is stark, as was the treatment of Hitler-aiding or coup-plotting industrialists in the past. If the law does not offer equal protection it is corrupt. If it is corrupted enough, it is tyranny. We are fools to tolerate these "secrets" in plain sight.
Mike S. I believe Rachel also went on to describe the circus they created in court when the government tried to prosecute them as a group resulting in no-one being jailed yet none of them was re-elected. They apparently didn't deploy "the nuclear option" of questioning voting integrity and the ballot box itself being corrupted as a weapon.
In any case, it is no secret that the hard right regularly uses Mafia-style intimidation, even if the "assault" weapons are mostly for show. I am aware that journalists that openly question right wing dogma get plenty of death threats and hate mail, and I think that is a much bigger factor than acknowledged for why modern journalism so often leans right, or is at least so toothless. When Cliven Bundy's acolytes were threatening officials with rifles, the "wisdom" seemed to be to tread carefully because they were so dangerous. Had they been black, or protesting a pipeline , I very much doubt that would have received the same deference. That's a very serious problem for government of, by and for the people, and liberty and justice for all.
I don't think that's all of it, but public embrace of the Chicago School suspension of ethics for activities that serve "the love of money" is just plain nuts. That said, there is a whole lot of money to follow to identify the ultimate source of the enthusiasm for that worldview. The rest is smoke and mirrors.
No, it's not all of it by any means. IMO the bigger problem is that for all our reverence for "checks and balances," there's no institutional check on economic power, and any & all attempts to rein big money in are called "socialism."
We talk a good game when we rhetorically bow to "democracy", "justice", "checks and balances", etc., but living with all three is a challenge for individuals, since it means honoring certain limits on our own behavior, like stopping at a stop sign, when we are so, so, late. If you of a mind to be a bully, civil conduct is even more inconvenient, and often with enough pricey lawyers, you can bend the rules. We wink or shrug when rule after rule is bent out of shape. If we were to do a big triage of common political acts, how many would pass the "of, by and for the people" test? And how many fail completely? Due process of law? It's so confining. John Adams advised to never trust power without a check, but do we, when we like what power is saying? When we might have to compromise?
And do we become inured to corruption in plain sight? Many who grumble would put "Reducing Corruption" and "Getting excessive money spent to influence outcomes out of politics" in the back seat to more particular concerns. Bernie was lampooned by many Democrats for banging on about this, but what is a more encompassing barrier to progress, including social justice, including the climate crisis?
As for Socialism? The devil is in the details. I see a role for both private enterprise and a robust public sector in an optimal society, but in a democratic republic it is the people the people who make the rules for commerce, not vice versa. I would not exactly call Lincoln a socialist in the strict economic sense, but he was clear who should rule the roost.
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
It appears that DOJ, thankfully, is after some big time white collar criminals. I’ve read or heard these can be hard to prosecute and so careful collection of evidence is important. I said Jan. 2021, can we please throw wads of 💰 and recruit hundreds of the best prosecutors in the country to the DOJ? The web of white collar criminality by tffg’s admin could take years to unravel. It truly is sickening that this country put him in our Oval Office. It really did nearly kill me at the time. I thought for sure it could not stand.
Perhaps the worst thing about the "rank depravity of Republicans" is that it distracts attention from the rank complicity of too many Democrats, especially when it comes to financial shenanigans. As Robert Kuttner points out, the Clinton administration of the 1990s was bigger on bank deregulation than either the Bush I or Bush II administration, and that was a major contributing factor in the global banking collapse of 2008. His comparison of the then and the now is worth reading: https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-15-elizabeth-warrens-moment-again/
I don't understand why anyone is confounded by those who fund the Republicans (and not a few Democrats) so generously: it's because those funders get what they want from their investments. What they want most of all is deregulation and lax (if any) oversight of financial markets. All that "culture wars" stuff is secondary: if railing against "wokeness" helps elect the legislators and governors who will do the plutocrats' bidding, then of course they aren't going to object.
I thought they were being confused earlier -- although "torpitude" might apply to those who are depraved out of laziness, which probably isn't as uncommon as we want to think.
I confess to being a bad typist, but note also that autocorrect is my enemy. I could have sworn that I chose turpitude, but alas..... I had even looked it up to be sure!
Heather, thanks for highlighting these people and events. This seems to be a year - if not a decade - of whack-a-mole. Grift, enabled by greed and gullibility, seems to be the guiding principle of way too many people. I hope the rest of us can stay vigilant and politically active.
It’s definitely going to be a decade long Whack-A-Mole game. Remember that we’ve been in it since 2015 when the “joke” became a reality as soon as he saw how much attention he got running for President. We’re still trying to figure out where all the mole tunnels lead to (ie - all of the grifting).
Yes, Laurie and Krissy, that’s the question: “We’re still trying to figure out where all the mole tunnels lead to (ie - all of the grifting).” Will this grift end or is it the new or not so new normal for the repub party? With essentially two strong parties, only one actually doing the jobs they were sent to Washington to do, this is getting scary.
Again the attacks on women and women’s rights are in the news. Thank you, Professor, for continuing to keep the “Abortion Question” alive when there are courts or lawyers or elected “leaders” that would like to skip judicial oversight, laws, regulations, and mandate the end of all Abortion. All. Abortion. Silence women and allies. From today’s letter: “Kacsmaryk was appointed by Trump and is well known for his right-wing views on abortion and same-sex marriage. Initially, he kept the hearing over a nationwide ban on the key drug used for medicated abortion off the docket, and in a phone call last Friday he asked lawyers not to publicize today’s hearing, saying he was concerned about safety.” His safety? Who’s safety? Does he believe there will be no controversy or conflict with these laws that take us back to the dark ages of back alley and dangerous Abortions? Most shocking, if we can be shocked by the far right or the repubs, is the idea of making Abortion a crime that would bring homicide charges. From the Guardian March 10: “The bills being introduced in Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina look to establish that life begins at conception. Each of these bills explicitly references homicide charges for abortion. Homicide is punishable by the death penalty in all of those states.”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/10/republican-wave-state-bills-homicide-charges
A little off topic, but still relevant to today's LFAA; as a (then) young protestor against the Viet Nam war, especially on behalf of the young draftees who had no say over their lives, I recall many of us women willing to do civil disobedience to get arrested and draw attention to the deaths and injuries of our young men. To say nothing of the dreadful harm caused to innocent Vietnamese by napalm et al.
What if something similar were done vis-a-vis the mifepristone debacle in Texas? What if women by the hundreds acknowledge use of or helping others obtain the medication? What if arrests ensued which filled local jails awaiting trial? I think it would have the same results as long ago. The draft ended and so did the war.
This would be the problem in Texas - A San Antonio man is suing his ex wife and her friends for "allegedly helping her find the abortion drugs". A million dollar suit........... Who has legal fees to fight that?
I hope this "judge" realizes or someone has pointed out to him the can of worms he will open is he goes along with disqualifying the FDA's approval & record on this drug. What will be next? Birth control pills? i hope someone goes after viagra & lets see how the tune changes or any similar drug!
No but it may cause an unwanted pregnancy by men who ejaculate their sperm irresponsibly & cause 100% of all pregnancies. In case you did not know sperm can live up to 5 days in a vagina & an egg is only fertile for 24hr. So if a man irresponsibly ejaculates on day 1, the egg can be fertilized 5 days later. As far as your comment goes, once the door is open to challenge drugs, where will it stop? Challenging viagra got your attention & hopefully other males attention to stop interfering with women's right to their health decisions . Men have no laws regarding causing unwanted pregnancies or regulating their bodily autonomy & that is NOT equal protection under the law
Is there anything in the law that says someone can sue their ex-spouse for breaking the law, if indeed such was the case? Shouldn't it be a denunciation to the police?
I read that a few days ago with a sense of disbelief: the kind the mind uses while reading science fantasy. Only without the release when one finishes and closes the book cover. There is no cover to close, and it all just feels more and more surreal. What frightens me most is knowing that the targeting of women's autonomy is only the opening salvo in an attempt to control our society and dismantle democracy. Where will they go next? Someone here earlier today claimed that no one protested the abortion restrictions. Do not know what world that person lives in. There are demonstrations, letters, court cases, news coverage of a massive resistance. But as long as the extreme right can use courts and legislatures bankrolled by those who seek to control us, we will need to up our strategies to meet them head on. I am not talking violence, but resistance. A tough, this stops here now kind of resistance. We cannot count on someone else to magically make it stop. We need to work together and do that in whatever ways we can.
This story is not only heartbreaking but shocking that in this country that has a constitution that has been amended to include women, we are still an underclass that corrupt courts continue to oppress and subjugate. Of course, an amendment is supposed to amend or correct, change. Again, History tells the stories. “United States Courts:
The 14th Amendment and the Evolution of Title IX” We couldn’t pass the IRA. Is it a wonder that there are protests, riots, uprisings, marches, sit-ins when voting and depending on high courts for “inalienable” rights are slow or ineffective. Some people think women are a footnote.
"saying that political donations are simply a form of free speech. The Supreme Court read that interpretation into law in the 2010 Citizens United decision, but the increasingly obvious links between money, politics, and national security suggest it might be worth revisiting."
That's the driest understatement I have heard in a while.
I couldn't agree with you more, J L Graham. My late husband, who was a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in Virginia, said that the Citizens United decision "marked the end of democracy as we know it." An avid reader of history, he was perturbed that there wasn't more of an outcry. He also said that if he were a younger person, he would leave the USA to find another country. Two years later when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he willingly left and with dignity, having felt that he had led a good life. This is the first time I have realized that perhaps it was his opportunity to exit to another place to live more freely. It all makes sense somehow. It's remarkable how long it takes to put grief in perspective among its many manifestations.
No I do not Mary but, Alex Wagner on msnbc tonite was able to put the Judges' further briefing offer on the screen verbatim giving the Parties' "days & weeks" to supplement the record for his needs. This is not forum shopping, this is forum creation for review in the 5th District. Note, Kacsmaryk does not have immunity from the ethical rules of professional conduct.
The Guo/Bannon corruption story is mindboggling in its blatency. So is Truth Social being funded by Putin cronies--again not that it happened but that it was so blatent--there are not 16 layers of intermediaries and shell companies.
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel did much to start the bank run on SVB and backed J.D. Vance. JD Vance wants to cut support for Ukraine unless it is tied to sourthern border protection spending. During his campaign he said he didn't care what happened in Ukraine.
Add in stirring the pot on Credit Suisse by the Saudi's and I would say that there is a new Russian/Chinese/Saudi/Iranian bloc looking to destroy Western democracies economically and via a vast disinformation campaign.
I am a little shocked that the Justice Department, after all that we have seen in the last two years or so, managed to only arrest a rich man who is also a Chinese National for something.
I mean, is it not possible to arrest Trump? Really?
Do we really have to arrest non-white rich folks when white rich folks are enjoying their steak at Mara Lago?
Ditto to your response Mike S. I believe T has too many corrupt connections that work against his arrest and conviction. We can only hope and pray that something happens, and soon, to restore our faith in our justice system.
And keeping true corruption in the spotlight glare while using and promoting the power of the vote. Hitler advised delivering demands to the vanquished in installments. What has happened between Watergate, in which even many Republicans were disturbed by Nixon's abuse of power, and today?
At a certain point they say and do stuff openly. Corruption and the perception of total corruption explains politcal criminals taking selfies at the scene of a crime, never expecting to be obliged to explain it in court.
The Thiel connection to the SVB debacle is new to me. I'm quite curious about that. Thiel is horrific. He's like a weird mix of JP Morgan and a Bond villain
Yes, the GOP is very good at understanding how easily people believe their lies. They also understand the key role that Fox News plays in handing out those lies and ensuring that the ignorant masses "believe".
You go, Heather! END Citizens United! When will we quit enabling bad actors whose greed knows no bounds? When will we learn the meaning of ENOUGH? Time to lock up some crooks and tax some billionnaires.
Thank you again professor for your detailed summation. How do you do this night after night? I am truly nauseated by the greed and deception, collusion and more greed. Will someone please charge and convict these people. Is there no other charges that can be brought against the despicable Bannon. Yet I continue to hold on to hope that Justice will be served.
I want to add one more thing. This money, politics, discussion.
It needs to be put into law that a person can’t spend more on his campaign than his salary is for one year of the office he’s attempting to be elected for. The president’s salary is $400,000 a year, I think. It might be higher now, but I’ll use that as an example.
The presidential candidates would not be allowed to dorms over $400,000 on their campaigns. That’s it. Donations couldn’t be over $1,000, and all donations must be reported to the election commission.
This should be the law for every public office an election is held for, right down to city councilmen.
Perhaps being "bought" is a fundamental principal of our Democracy.
After all, John Adams was recruited by John Hancock, the richest man in Boston, to litigate for John Hancock such that Hancock would be relieved of taxes on his, then, illegal rum running into Boston Harbor.
Now, John Adams would not have described himself as a paid lobbyist for John Hancock.
But, he was the very first one to be "bought and paid for" to do the bidding of a rich white man in America.
btw: I am a huge fan of John Adams. However, that did not stop me from recognizing his early service to being a lobbyist.
Ha! Those guys of the Continental Congress had a good ol' time. Perhaps you are right that the seeds of our politics were cast from early days. The men who dallied in the courtly life of Europe to raise money, often for months at a time, were amazingly profligate. They included but were not limited to Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. What may be more amazing is that their wives at home were doing the heavy lifting. They raised their children, ran the homesteads or farms, maintained small businesses and sometimes did fund-raising and politicking on behalf of their husbands. Ben Franklin's wife even raised his illegitimate son who became governor of New Jersey.
I believe that the chances of a ‘balanced budget’ in 2033 are, and should be, zero. The proper concern should be how we can have a fairer tax system to provide for the appropriate physical and social infrastructure of the United States.
The Republicans are again in their ‘dance of stupid storks’ (only performed in Democratic administrations).They oppose any new taxes on the wealthy and are awaiting another Republican administration to again reduce such taxes consonant with their fraudulent ‘trickle down’ pee pee policy.
In their false budgetary bloviating, they focus on the imperativeness of slashing ‘social expenditures’ to prevent budgetary suicide.
Meanwhile, President Biden is proposing a robust 2023 budget with a panoply of recommended new taxes and much needed social expenditures.
It seems likely that few, if any, of these new taxes will be enacted. Indeed, with the Kevin Crazies in the Animal House, it is uncertain whether a stalemate on the budget might lead to a failure to raise the national debt limit. A debt default could make the current Silicon Valley Bank fiscal dust up seem like a gentle walk in the park.
What is lacking is a serious discussion of national debt. The only time that America had no national debt was in the mid-1830s. The last time the budget was balanced was in President Clinton’s final year in office.
We are going to continue to have an annual budget deficit indefinitely. The appropriate issue is how much. Typically America’s national debt is calculated as a proportion of our Gross Domestic Product. During WW II this became humongous. High taxes were enacted and maintained for years and the debt/GDP ratio dropped substantially.
Assuming that our total economy will increase annually by 2-4% over the coming decade, then we have considerable wiggle room for increasing our total national debt.
Meanwhile the ‘debate’ over the budget deficit and the national debt is sprinkled with Republican foo foo dust.
When I was a kid, a ‘millionaire’ was a person who had over $1,000,000 in assets. Currently there are over 300,000 individuals who have annual incomes over $1,000,000.
Also, there are over 700 American billionaires—$1,000,000,000+.
When I was 16 I felt fortunate because I received 80 cents/hour—5 cents over the minimum wage—working in the summer in an industrial cafeteria of a Westinghouse plant in West Philadelphia.
I very seldom got a hot meal while in the army. Sometimes I ate my ice cream first before the siren went off on the rare occasions we actually made it to a mess hall. My roast water Buffalo sat forlornly on my abandoned trey. I think I will become a Republican now so I can also steal from the government. I have my heart set on getting a hamburger milk shake and French fries by whatever means necessary to exact my revenge. I don’t care if it breaks the bank! Maybe I could team up with Dartannon or whatever his name is. I would like it served on the yacht.
Once again the Federalist Society rears its ugly head. The Federalist Society is a right-wing organization formed 40 years ago to install judges in US courts who will rule according to conservative Christian principles*, instead of the Constitution or the rule of law. The six judges of the right-wing cabal on the Supreme Court that outlawed abortion are all Federalist Society members. And, no surprise, Kacsmaryk is a Federalist Society judge as well, who was specifically chosen by the right-wing Christians suing to make mifepristone illegal. It would be astounding if Kacsmaryk does not outlaw plan B. Welcome to Gilead.
Good call, John. The GOP Senate during all 4 years of the Seditionist Sociopath's reign, led by Machiavellian Mitch McConnell, rubber stamped so many of these judicial nominees with swift and wholly non deliberative dispatch.
I do not think it is hyperbolic to claim that this represented the only actual "packing" of the federal courts in American history.
The shameful, yet wholly predictable results are rolling in.
The Dobbs and Bruen decisions in particular, are already sowing the legal chaos and public alarm that no responsible Court would allow.
Dobbs is the first case that I know of where the Supreme Court snatched back a constitutional right of long standing and wide reliance from the American people.
Take heart that we have LFAA and HCR. There are the investigative reporters such as Rachel Maddow, Mother Jones, and other excellent sub-stack letters. I wouldn't have known otherwise. You are not alone. Continue the "good trouble."
The rank depravity of Republicans and those who fund them continues to surprise me. These people are plumbing depths of turpitude that seem boundless. May they somehow be brought to justice.
Rank depravity and a seemingly unbreakable link with radical right-wing "Christians," who are so holier-than-though that they are intent on forcing others to follow their shameful beliefs.
I had a good friend, a middle of the road R, until the Dobbs decision. He is Catholic and tried to rationalize Dobbs by telling me Euro countries have “reasonable” 15-week cutoffs. My response was that he had no right, in the name of his religion, to tell my daughter and my two granddaughters what they can do with their bodies. I have not spoken with him, or any othe Christo-fascist, since…I regret H. Clinton called roughly 70 million people “deplorables” — because it might have lost her the election. But she was absolutely correct.
It was a faux pas, for sure. But they are more like "vulnerables" first, who want a big daddy to tell them what to do. I am afraid God and Religion appear to produce vulnerables who are easy to bilk and easy targets for sexual abuse because they give their power away without critical thinking. Vulnerables are perfect targets for power seeking narcissists like trump and hitler to use very specific, authoritarian, "grooming tactics" upon. trump's rallies right from the start demonstrated he was a baby fascist seeking total power over "his people." When he is truly a very weak and empty vessel thanks to lack of good parenting and love. Vulnerables seek the safety of being part of a group...it could be church and safe or it could be the Proud Boys or the KKK where they feel empowered and strong but full of hatred and fear of the Other. It is maddening to have grown up with those kinds of men and to see them still operating freely in the open, intent on destroying nations and the earth. Kick them off the planet. A free, one way ride to Mars.
Research has been done on the differences between conservative and liberal brains.
This is a quote from a Scientific American article, October 26, 2020:
"On the whole, the research shows, conservatives desire security, predictability and authority more than liberals do, and liberals are more comfortable with novelty, nuance and complexity."
There are actual differences in brain structure.
I've agreed with that overview since I first heard similar evaluations, even before 2020. (I'm just finishing up Thom Hartmann's "Cracking the Code. How to Win Hearts, Change Minds and Restore America's Original Vision.")
https://phys.org/news/2022-10-debunks-idea-world-dangerous-liberals.html
"hierarchical world belief" explained 20 times more variance in political ideology than "dangerous world belief".
Nailed it.
Excellent post and excellent description of these people who really lack self esteem. They get it from feeling superior to others and to show empathy of any kind would be unmanly. This same goes for women with this mentality. They get their self esteem from some male and/or once again feeling superior because they are white or they are "Christian" and have a special relationship with God. They are all nauseating.
Well said gang mentality.
I like your thinking Pensa_VT. Vulnerables so appropriate. Be careful when you swim out to save them they don’t grab on to you to drown with them as their ship has already sunk.
Catholics are often one issue voters. Now that the Dobbs decision was made they will push for the national ban. What is troubling, however, is that the bishops have recently begun to support the radical right beyond the abortion question, in a sharp swerve away from Catholic social justice teaching. It has finally driven me away,. For years, I would tolerate the church leadership by telling myself that the faithful are the church, not the hierarchy of priests and leaders. Too much corruption and now the support of the far right from so many bishops and priests are the proverbial straw.
I am sorry that you've recognized that your spiritual path has some things not desirable. I cheer you for the ability to see it and make a healthy decision for yourself. It must be a bit painful to reach that decision, but it demonstrates how healthy you are. And you will find something that is more true to your spirit, I am sure.
Thank you. It has not been faith that troubled me.
Carmen I just read that the Vatican has been ‘investigating’ 40 bishops for years regarding sex charges and have yet to release the results regarding many. Could these wayward priests be considered, in WW II terminology, a ‘Fifth Column?’ Do you think they are a small or large retrogressive element?
I have not followed in great detail all the elements regarding the sex scandals, on the surface a deeply troubling problem within the church. Political positions of the bishops is what has bothered me, and represents a divided church that needs much reform.
"Cathleen Kaveny, a theology and law professor at Boston College and Boston College Law School, told NCR that she thinks the bishops need to pivot from the way they have discussed abortion and reassert their independence from political parties."
https://www.ncronline.org/news/next-weeks-us-bishops-meeting-may-showcase-countrys-sharp-catholic-divisions
A friend who was studying to be a minister was shocked after one of one of his classes. The subject matter of that class had him in tears. What put him in shock, had him in tears, was learning how much killing had been done in the name of Christ over the last 1500+ years. The Catholic Church of Rome in particular was the power behind and the perpetrator of the killing/ murdering of millions over millennia. Some estimate the total to be 170 million.
Sadly, a verified reality. Any religion that becomes inflexible, dogmatic, and self-righteous too easily drifts away from its own core principles.
Amazing that they taught true history of Catholicism to their future ministers. Weeding out process perhaps?
Unfortunately he wasn’t studying to become a Catholic priest/ minister. The Catholic Church teaching the true history of Catholicism to its future priests/ ministers…. one can only hope that day will come.
I believe James Comey was the "nail in the coffin" for Hillary.
Well, there were multiple nails in her presidential coffin. But I am sure that Vladimir and his oligarchs, the Mercers (Manafort and Conway's benefactors), the Murdochs, the ignorant media, etc. all played a huge part is placing the fool's lying, golden calf on the throne in 2016.
Compared to the alternative, I'd take Hillary a thousand times over. I realize that many people disliked Hillary. For some "dislike" is mild. But she is smart. Savvy. Tenacious. Fighting within the world comprised mostly of males, many who are ignorant and consumed with excess hubris, her battlefield was well-laid-out. I dislike her smug arrogance, while understanding that was one card she had to play for her political survival.
I actually agree with you, Vince. And, I have always felt she was owned by corporations but trump is nothing BUT a corporation. The thing that is very hard, but also very good if we can breathe through it, is that our darkest shadows have now been revealed. Our good ol boy white patriarchy, and its' wish to maintain power above all costs. It's wish to not look at our decimations of Native people and their lands, of our enslavement and human trafficking and brutality on a massive scale just to build wealth and continue their caste systems that they brought here. It is time for America to wake up. That is why they project wokeism onto us as if it is negative. Not sure if you saw my earlier comment that I am spreading all over fox and sports pages-- here is an abstract of it:
"THE DEFINITION OF "WOKE" IS BEING AWARE OF AND ACTIVELY ATTENTIVE TO IMPORTANT SOCIETAL FACTS AND ISSUES (ESPECIALLY ISSUES OF RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE).
We should all embrace being awake. Preferable to being an idiot, no? I believe we need to let women have a chance and let the old white boy crony caste system fade away. But it appears to want to go screaming and kicking.
Yes, I saw your comments on WOKE. OMG. Our country is so full of slogans, and full of "it". There is a population of angry old white men who simply refuse to embrace truth and fact. In the '80s we had "double speak", translated into one thing being said while it meant something entirely different, like code. Then we came up with a system of speaking "nice", again code. It was pretend sensitvity and politeness, nastiness wrapped in a velvet cloak of deception. Now, the right has grabbed hold of "woke", which they clearly do not understand. Yet, that is so like the right wing (predominated by Republicans). Frankly, I believe they are so afraid -- of everything. It must be hell, living in such a tight and constrained bubble.
Yes--do any of them actually look truly happy? How can one be when one is full of fear, hatred, revenge and weakness passing off as toxic masculinity and superiority. I feel like we are living in a grade B movie and one bizarre character after another prances out on stage for more shock value. Shakespeare must have been a genius about humanity-- about this comic tragedy. Yin and yank. That is why I love this Heather's substack where people actually can communicate and learn with others. Thank you, Vince, this has been a great experience--I had to take a break for awhile from politics and today was my first real dip back. Pleased to meet you! Appears you might be Vince the Lion-Hearted One (or Leo).
Hello! Thank you for your thoughtful response. Back atcha! Republicans are deplete of compassion, care and humanity. I am confident there are some like them in the Democratic Party (I am an Independent and have been for years). But Republicans get the trophy for performative nastiness, lying, deception, foolishness, brash immaturity and full disregard for our constitutional democratic republic. At times I feel so much rage, anger and outrage that I, too, must pull away from time to time. Republicans are so miserable and disloyal in their own skin they must try to seduce us into their blatant, sordid misery. Misery loves company! I refuse to join their dreary, dismal parade.
Yes, I am an independent for many years.
There is a very interesting episodic film called Messiah: So That Seeing They May Not See. I started to watch it a second time after a few years and suddenly understand what the film is trying to say about Confusion being necessary to break us up out of patterns and complacency.
I cannot remember if I ever finished the series the first time around, but really find a parallel with the message of needing to create change and how that happens from within each one of us. First we experience the harsh upside down alternative realities and lies that force us to think and act so we can evolve. I might be wrong, but I think that is the message I am getting from this film. Very thought provoking. Cheers!
By the way, your reference to the Lion and "Leo" resonated resoundingly with me. My rising sign is "Leo". The Lion is in my avatar, the Lion Rampant of Scotland. That avatar is not here, obviously.
yes That and the (f)email issue...
Larry Call the ‘deplorables’ Luddites. It might give you satisfaction, and they wouldn’t realize you are insulting them.
Yeah, but it will not help them to become awakened! They do not respond to things they have to look up and learn about. They need soundbite definitions of their faux pas.
Keith, I have sometimes described myself as a Luddite in terms of the current technology. I like on/off, etc. I feel beholden to computer chips.
Michele I identify with your semi-Ludditeness regarding new technology. My 22 year old grand son is with us today. In technology he is light years ahead of me and Georgia. However, we don’t seek to abolish hi-tech technology. We simply seek to struggle along at our own slightly enhanced levels with occasional tech bail outs from grand kids.
ALSO, you like me are open to change and, on occasion, are change agents. We read, we think, and we struggle with those damnable computer chips.
Fortunately, my husband understands this stuff. I do have a I phone and I can get it open and call on it and that's about it. We had to get me a real camera because I kept taking selfies by accident. He sighs a lot.
😂😂
LOL
Fair point, Keith.
Larry, the "reasonable" 15-week cutoffs in other countries are balanced by reasonable, easy to obtain exceptions.
Sadly, Michael, many Christians have stopped reading about Christ their Savior in light of todays issues or praying and listening to His directives and are ignorantly listening to opinions from the pulpit. It takes thought and courage to face that our country is truly going through dangerous times. It is difficult to turn from a place of worship in which you have trusted....from the opinions of lifelong friends. ...perhaps from a political party one has trusted in the past.
True faith is living and active. The group mentality can take the form of becoming "brainwashed." Religious leaders were imprisoned and some died during Hitler's reign. Wake up my friends of faith!!! Look at what is taking place on front of you!
For those of you who believe a woman should never have a right to an abortion, open your homes to adopt.
Personally I think men should bear responsibility for the lives they have begun. The egg can not begin life alone....yet....there it is the truth.....the big bad men want no part. What is a woman to do....what is the world to do about life.
The "Right for Life Movement" is being used by men once more to gain power. Wake up good Christian people.
YES, continued oppression of women and all non-whites is their desire in order to stay in power. You know, the only way to try to keep women down is to keep them barefoot, pregnant, and in the kitchen. This old iron triangle patriarchy has many more things to learn in 2023— none of us are going backwards to be their slaves anymore. They need to evolve and be human beings with consciousness' or crawl back into their caves and we will just slide the rock over the entrance.
I just watched a documentary on the "Martha Mitchell Effect." Really ticked me off what Nixon and John Mitchell did to her when she was speaking out loudly about their corruption...this is serious folks. Men, big egos, power and greed are toxic for us and the planet. Justice must be more swift. Presidential pardons for criminal activities should be against the law. Thank goodness for women judges and good men who believe in the Rule of Law equality. We all have to use our gift of intelligence with heart and stand up for the ALL the people and the planet.
Emily Genuine Christians acknowledge and follow Jesus’s parable of the Good Samaritan. That should be a litmus test for so-called ‘evangelical Christians.’
Incidentally, I just read an article in which three evangelical Christian pastors justified having their flock buy them $54 million Gulf Steam jets so that they could be ‘nearer to God.’
Jesus rode a donkey and was as close to God as one can get.
Technically, Jesus IS God.
Carmen Now you are out of my league. I was brought up with Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (slipped in at the Council of Nicaea in 325). How can Jesus be the son of God and also God?
P. S. Now the Holy Ghost is called the Holy Spirit, which I find a bit spooky.
Trinitarian theology. Lots of dispute and debate but eventually it was decided that God is three co-equal and eternal persons. God humbled himself to assume human flesh in the person of the son. The easiest explanation is that it is a mystery and an article of faith. There's no good logical HUMAN explanation.
Constantine summoned the Council of Nicaea to deal with some alternative interpretations. The Creed was the result. I am never sure of Constantine's intent except he wanted to eliminate all who stood in his way and have the final word.
Michele Constantine apparently had a vision about 311 before a battle that turned him towards Jesus Christ. [Reminiscent of Paul’s vision that turned him from anti-Jesus to Jesus’s devoted disciple?]
Eventually he called the Council of Nicaea in 325 to work out some theological issues. The Holy Ghost was one such negotiated addition. This was a major step in Christianity moving from a persecuted religion to being the religion of the Roman Empire.
Yes, but I have questions about his Christianity. I read all about this in the bio I read about his mother which had a lot more about him actually. I see his conversion as a part of the road to Christian authoritarianism. (I did enjoy his mother's story from a concubine of his father to mother of an emperor and finder of the True Cross.) A constant theme was that he let no one or anything stand in his way to complete control.
Keith, I recently read a book about Constantine's mother and the Council of Nicaea was during his watch. I am not sure Constantine was much of a Christian, but he found it useful. Of course, that didn't stop him from doing in his son among others. I think in many ways very early ordinary Christians were not as intolerant until Church fathers, emperors, and assorted "saints" took over. Love your postscript.
Et cum spiritu tuo. Boo. Just dragging main street Keith and thought I would drop you a Dominus Vobiscum.
Liz Including the Holy Ghost/Holy Spirit?
Correct Liz. The "Godhead" has three aspects: Creator, Redeemer, and Guiding Presence. The Triune God is one way of grasping what is basically ungraspable for humans.
I have heard God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost as One. And I have heard that each is separate. My grandfather was a Catholic, however; I only know this by going to his funeral when I was six years old. His wife, my grandmother, was a Protestant that I hardly remember going to church but she was a good hard working woman that I loved dearly. She was not educated beyond grammer school. My other grandmother was a Jehovah's Witness. I don't remember her husband and by wonderful kind well thought of grandfather ever stepping foot in a church. I went to church with our neighbors around the age of 10. I remember being in Sunday School class and the teacher ask if we were sinners and to hold up our hands if we were. I didn't think I had sinned so I didn't hold up my hand. I was so embarrassed when she said we were born sinners! Who would have thought! I know attend church on the internet on Sunday after I watch Sunday Morning on CBS.
Carmen ! JESUS ! IS ,..... The SON ! of GOD ! HE came to US to Do the WILL, of HIS FATHER ! and to Please HIS FATHER ! LUKE 23 /35 thru 46 PSALM 31/ 4 & 5 ACTS 7/ 58 thru 60 ACTS 2/37 thru 39 ! Blessings !.......
Ask your pastor about this.
SORRY ! Carmen ! I was *Reposting*
and it dropped out of My Position.
"Nutshelling". My thoughts, in the HOLY SPIRIT, put Me into what Paul Wrote,. in Colossians :
2 , Verses 9 and 10....Him!, is JESUS!
He, (the SON,) The Only BEGOTTEN,
of the Father,! was Manifested,. in the FLESH, to Come Down, (from Heavenly State) and DO, the WILL,
of the FATHER, Always ASKING, the FATHER, to GLORIFY HIS FATHER , through Himself (showing SERVITUDE!) unto the FATHER.
On the Cross,, ...He said "FATHER!
FORGIVE THEM! For They NO NOT !
What They DO! on the End, ...He said,
IT IS FINISHED! ( His SINLESS FLESH, DIED!! *the Perfect LAMB of GOD!*). to Fulfill GODS LAW!
there is NO Remission, of SINS,. except, Through, the Shedding of
BLOOD ! NOW! ...JESUS! is With the FATHER, as OUR PROPITIATION
for the FORGIVENESS, of SINS!
IF!, ...We *Walk, in His COMMANDMENTS. ALLOW HIS
HOLY SPIRIT, to Continually RESIDE
in YOU! ALL BLESSINGS!
INTERESTING,. ..HOW the LAST LINE! of the Post, Doesn't SHOW UP!, ......it SAYS:
UNLESS!, there is the SHEDDING
of BLOOD! (JESUS! ...the PERFECT LAMB! ,. of GOD!
NOW! ...OUR High PRIEST! , for ETERNITY ! HALLELUJAH !!
He also gave his talks under trees, by rivers…..
Such a hippie!
Keith, I saw two of the three pastors interviewed. They weren't all Gulfstreams, but you got the gist absolutely right.
One of the pastors told his congregation that Jesus told him he needed a new jet. The other one justified it by telling his church that he couldn't pray or read the Bible while he was locked up in a commercial jet with sinners. I was so disgusted at these grifters that I turned the TV off and never went back to that channel. I can't cite the show, but I am so thankful that those "pastors" do not represent the clergy any more than trump represents the presidency....
TELL IT ! like it IS !! K eith !
I have never seen anyone that believed a woman should never have a right to an abortion adopt a child in my 79 years. I have only seen those that could not have a child or were having problems with conception adopt a wanted child. Sorry to say most of those have not worked out so well.
I just wish that there was a 50/50 chance that males could get PG. All this would change in a hurry. I am truly bothered by sanctimonious males staunchly supporting their so called pro life stance.
Jesus did not speak against abortion
My childish impression of Jesus is that we are all a part of god which is Love and we have the ability to choose to not throw stones or judge others (or break HIPPAA regulations and look at private medical records that are none of your beeswax). Just Love or let them/us be. Seems simple enough that we should all understand that, but for some troublesome parts of ourselves called Egos.
Didn't someone say "Love is all there is!" My come to Jesus moments have been nature, with friends and listening to the Beatles—who sang all about Love. John Lennon's "Imagine" says it all and can bring me to tears with all that imagining of the world as I wish it was. I think there is Love,or the absence of love. It is very easy to tell them apart by how you feel. We have free will and the power to choose Love.
The first time I heard trump speak, I felt he was a total absence of love. Hitler too. They are wired differently. It would be a loving thing for the world to lock those kinds of guys the F up ...and love them from afar, really afar. (It think I owe a quarter for that F, dang! Worth it sometimes... )
Mary The only source for what Jesus said is the four Gospels (and others that were not included, including the Thomas Gospel). Also, do we have any evidence that ‘abortion’ was an issue back then? Or when the Constitution was debated and signed?
RIGHT ON ! Emily ! .......AMEN !
From the US District Court single Division Bench in Amarillo, Texas.
Look up “ Religion is the Root of All Evil” A lifetime of reading. History tells the story.
https://www.google.com/search?q=religion+root+of+all+evil&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-us&client=safari
I cannot comment on all religions. I am aware that some Christian institutions have distorted Jesus central messages of love and caring for neighbors and, gasp, enemies.
Some time ago one reader here contributed a link from a Christian forum that stands firmly against Christian Nationalism and embraces the ideals that most readers here have, including that all people should be free to practice whatever religion they choose to embrace. I hope that reader posts that link again. I am a dunce at linking stuff
Irenie ! Religion, ! ....is Religion !!! KNOWING Jesus, as OUR Personal Savior, is 180 DEGREES Out ! from " reLIGION ! " Blessings !....
Rank and depraved just about tells the whole story on RepubNiks. I do worry if "salvation" for our nation is now too far out of reach.
Carmen,
I just listened to Rachel Madow's "Ultra" Podcast wherein she describes how a Nazi agent, planted in the United States in Washington, prior to WWII, recruits no less than 24 (TWENTY FOUR) Congressmen, all Republicans, in the United States Senate and Congress to disseminate millions of letters containing Nazi propaganda written in Germany.
This Nazi agent recruited our Congressmen by paying them. Straight up paying them to say and do and mail what he wanted them to mail.
These 24 Congressmen called themselves? Yep, "The America FIRST Committee".
So, Apparently, it is pretty easy to find some white guys in Washington to pay off with money. Nazi's do it.
Putin is doing it now and we can hear Putin speaking through the paid off Republicans every day.
However, it is all legal. Not one of the 24 traitors went to jail. I guess it is just not possible to arrest a white man on the dole in Congress. Too much against American "culture".
Plus, after all, they put "America First". I am certain that Trump is a paid stooge of Putin.
I am equally certain that DeSantis is a paid stooge of Putin. All legal though.
Since they are not Chinese, but, White, they cannot be arrested.
Rachel Maddow, like Heather Cox Richardson, is a national treasure. She saw the staggering importance of the "Ultra" story that was left out of the history books and almost irretrievable, and she took the time off from her high profile job at MSNBC to work on it exclusively. A chilling moment in the podcast for me was when the PhD historian said that she never learned about this and most historians didn't. I keep expecting HCR to write about it, and am curious that she hasn't, unless I missed it. Anyway, Mike S., I wanted to make the point that these acts of insurrection were indeed illegal, but the courtroom was so corrupted by the antics of the America First crowd that they were unable to give them a fair trial. The ballot box was the real solution. Which makes today's assault on voting integrity so dangerous.
I suspect that a lot of corruption that is growing in our society is technically illegal on some level, but money and cronyism buys the perpetrators a pass. The contrast in the treatment of the right wing (such as Cliven Bundy) and somewhat left wing and/or black defendants is stark, as was the treatment of Hitler-aiding or coup-plotting industrialists in the past. If the law does not offer equal protection it is corrupt. If it is corrupted enough, it is tyranny. We are fools to tolerate these "secrets" in plain sight.
And yes, the voting box and an informed electorate is crucial.
Maureen. Thank you for your additional highlighting.
Mike S. I believe Rachel also went on to describe the circus they created in court when the government tried to prosecute them as a group resulting in no-one being jailed yet none of them was re-elected. They apparently didn't deploy "the nuclear option" of questioning voting integrity and the ballot box itself being corrupted as a weapon.
Yes and didn’t the judge die and that ended the proceedings? So odd. Or was it.
In any case, it is no secret that the hard right regularly uses Mafia-style intimidation, even if the "assault" weapons are mostly for show. I am aware that journalists that openly question right wing dogma get plenty of death threats and hate mail, and I think that is a much bigger factor than acknowledged for why modern journalism so often leans right, or is at least so toothless. When Cliven Bundy's acolytes were threatening officials with rifles, the "wisdom" seemed to be to tread carefully because they were so dangerous. Had they been black, or protesting a pipeline , I very much doubt that would have received the same deference. That's a very serious problem for government of, by and for the people, and liberty and justice for all.
Simply incredible. Thanks Mike, Carmen. Just finished it too. WHEW😳
Amazing podcast.
Corruption.
Aka under-regulated capitalism
I don't think that's all of it, but public embrace of the Chicago School suspension of ethics for activities that serve "the love of money" is just plain nuts. That said, there is a whole lot of money to follow to identify the ultimate source of the enthusiasm for that worldview. The rest is smoke and mirrors.
No, it's not all of it by any means. IMO the bigger problem is that for all our reverence for "checks and balances," there's no institutional check on economic power, and any & all attempts to rein big money in are called "socialism."
We talk a good game when we rhetorically bow to "democracy", "justice", "checks and balances", etc., but living with all three is a challenge for individuals, since it means honoring certain limits on our own behavior, like stopping at a stop sign, when we are so, so, late. If you of a mind to be a bully, civil conduct is even more inconvenient, and often with enough pricey lawyers, you can bend the rules. We wink or shrug when rule after rule is bent out of shape. If we were to do a big triage of common political acts, how many would pass the "of, by and for the people" test? And how many fail completely? Due process of law? It's so confining. John Adams advised to never trust power without a check, but do we, when we like what power is saying? When we might have to compromise?
And do we become inured to corruption in plain sight? Many who grumble would put "Reducing Corruption" and "Getting excessive money spent to influence outcomes out of politics" in the back seat to more particular concerns. Bernie was lampooned by many Democrats for banging on about this, but what is a more encompassing barrier to progress, including social justice, including the climate crisis?
As for Socialism? The devil is in the details. I see a role for both private enterprise and a robust public sector in an optimal society, but in a democratic republic it is the people the people who make the rules for commerce, not vice versa. I would not exactly call Lincoln a socialist in the strict economic sense, but he was clear who should rule the roost.
“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.”
It appears that DOJ, thankfully, is after some big time white collar criminals. I’ve read or heard these can be hard to prosecute and so careful collection of evidence is important. I said Jan. 2021, can we please throw wads of 💰 and recruit hundreds of the best prosecutors in the country to the DOJ? The web of white collar criminality by tffg’s admin could take years to unravel. It truly is sickening that this country put him in our Oval Office. It really did nearly kill me at the time. I thought for sure it could not stand.
the are for sale and to the highest bidder
Perhaps the worst thing about the "rank depravity of Republicans" is that it distracts attention from the rank complicity of too many Democrats, especially when it comes to financial shenanigans. As Robert Kuttner points out, the Clinton administration of the 1990s was bigger on bank deregulation than either the Bush I or Bush II administration, and that was a major contributing factor in the global banking collapse of 2008. His comparison of the then and the now is worth reading: https://prospect.org/blogs-and-newsletters/tap/2023-03-15-elizabeth-warrens-moment-again/
I don't understand why anyone is confounded by those who fund the Republicans (and not a few Democrats) so generously: it's because those funders get what they want from their investments. What they want most of all is deregulation and lax (if any) oversight of financial markets. All that "culture wars" stuff is secondary: if railing against "wokeness" helps elect the legislators and governors who will do the plutocrats' bidding, then of course they aren't going to object.
Me too I just can't believe it Like Limbo rock..."How low can you go?!"
torpitude: the state of being dormant; stupor.
turpitude: depravity, wickedness.
I thought they were being confused earlier -- although "torpitude" might apply to those who are depraved out of laziness, which probably isn't as uncommon as we want to think.
I confess to being a bad typist, but note also that autocorrect is my enemy. I could have sworn that I chose turpitude, but alas..... I had even looked it up to be sure!
Fixed it. Thanks for the heads up.
It happens. Computers are only human, after all.
😅
What a wonderful sentence:
"These people are plumbing depths of turpitude that seem boundless."
Thanks, Sally.
Heather, thanks for highlighting these people and events. This seems to be a year - if not a decade - of whack-a-mole. Grift, enabled by greed and gullibility, seems to be the guiding principle of way too many people. I hope the rest of us can stay vigilant and politically active.
It’s definitely going to be a decade long Whack-A-Mole game. Remember that we’ve been in it since 2015 when the “joke” became a reality as soon as he saw how much attention he got running for President. We’re still trying to figure out where all the mole tunnels lead to (ie - all of the grifting).
Yes, Laurie and Krissy, that’s the question: “We’re still trying to figure out where all the mole tunnels lead to (ie - all of the grifting).” Will this grift end or is it the new or not so new normal for the repub party? With essentially two strong parties, only one actually doing the jobs they were sent to Washington to do, this is getting scary.
Follow the money; not just individual transactions, but the hydrodynamics of cash flow throughout societies and the world. The truth is out there.
Again the attacks on women and women’s rights are in the news. Thank you, Professor, for continuing to keep the “Abortion Question” alive when there are courts or lawyers or elected “leaders” that would like to skip judicial oversight, laws, regulations, and mandate the end of all Abortion. All. Abortion. Silence women and allies. From today’s letter: “Kacsmaryk was appointed by Trump and is well known for his right-wing views on abortion and same-sex marriage. Initially, he kept the hearing over a nationwide ban on the key drug used for medicated abortion off the docket, and in a phone call last Friday he asked lawyers not to publicize today’s hearing, saying he was concerned about safety.” His safety? Who’s safety? Does he believe there will be no controversy or conflict with these laws that take us back to the dark ages of back alley and dangerous Abortions? Most shocking, if we can be shocked by the far right or the repubs, is the idea of making Abortion a crime that would bring homicide charges. From the Guardian March 10: “The bills being introduced in Arkansas, Texas, Kentucky and South Carolina look to establish that life begins at conception. Each of these bills explicitly references homicide charges for abortion. Homicide is punishable by the death penalty in all of those states.”https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/10/republican-wave-state-bills-homicide-charges
And it will get worse…
A little off topic, but still relevant to today's LFAA; as a (then) young protestor against the Viet Nam war, especially on behalf of the young draftees who had no say over their lives, I recall many of us women willing to do civil disobedience to get arrested and draw attention to the deaths and injuries of our young men. To say nothing of the dreadful harm caused to innocent Vietnamese by napalm et al.
What if something similar were done vis-a-vis the mifepristone debacle in Texas? What if women by the hundreds acknowledge use of or helping others obtain the medication? What if arrests ensued which filled local jails awaiting trial? I think it would have the same results as long ago. The draft ended and so did the war.
Not only in Texas, but in floriduh, our FIRST amendment is under assault, nevermind the 2nd. I simply do not understand the apathy.
This would be the problem in Texas - A San Antonio man is suing his ex wife and her friends for "allegedly helping her find the abortion drugs". A million dollar suit........... Who has legal fees to fight that?
I hope this "judge" realizes or someone has pointed out to him the can of worms he will open is he goes along with disqualifying the FDA's approval & record on this drug. What will be next? Birth control pills? i hope someone goes after viagra & lets see how the tune changes or any similar drug!
Yes, birth control is next. Of course they won't take Viagra away from white men. The plan is to get more (white) women pregnant.
Viagra must contribute to abortions,eh?
No but it may cause an unwanted pregnancy by men who ejaculate their sperm irresponsibly & cause 100% of all pregnancies. In case you did not know sperm can live up to 5 days in a vagina & an egg is only fertile for 24hr. So if a man irresponsibly ejaculates on day 1, the egg can be fertilized 5 days later. As far as your comment goes, once the door is open to challenge drugs, where will it stop? Challenging viagra got your attention & hopefully other males attention to stop interfering with women's right to their health decisions . Men have no laws regarding causing unwanted pregnancies or regulating their bodily autonomy & that is NOT equal protection under the law
A bible verse comes to my mind...something about a man spilling his seed...can we pass a law banning ejaculations?
Is there anything in the law that says someone can sue their ex-spouse for breaking the law, if indeed such was the case? Shouldn't it be a denunciation to the police?
In Tennessee, here’s what women are up against.
https://www.propublica.org/article/tennessee-abortion-ban-doctors-ectopic-pregnancy?utm_source=sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=majorinvestigations&utm_content=feature
I read that a few days ago with a sense of disbelief: the kind the mind uses while reading science fantasy. Only without the release when one finishes and closes the book cover. There is no cover to close, and it all just feels more and more surreal. What frightens me most is knowing that the targeting of women's autonomy is only the opening salvo in an attempt to control our society and dismantle democracy. Where will they go next? Someone here earlier today claimed that no one protested the abortion restrictions. Do not know what world that person lives in. There are demonstrations, letters, court cases, news coverage of a massive resistance. But as long as the extreme right can use courts and legislatures bankrolled by those who seek to control us, we will need to up our strategies to meet them head on. I am not talking violence, but resistance. A tough, this stops here now kind of resistance. We cannot count on someone else to magically make it stop. We need to work together and do that in whatever ways we can.
Heartbreaking. No one should have to go through this. No one. Ever.
This story is not only heartbreaking but shocking that in this country that has a constitution that has been amended to include women, we are still an underclass that corrupt courts continue to oppress and subjugate. Of course, an amendment is supposed to amend or correct, change. Again, History tells the stories. “United States Courts:
The 14th Amendment and the Evolution of Title IX” We couldn’t pass the IRA. Is it a wonder that there are protests, riots, uprisings, marches, sit-ins when voting and depending on high courts for “inalienable” rights are slow or ineffective. Some people think women are a footnote.
https://www.uscourts.gov/educational-resources/educational-activities/14th-amendment-and-evolution-title-ix
I'm not sure whether you are taking too many drugs or too few.
"saying that political donations are simply a form of free speech. The Supreme Court read that interpretation into law in the 2010 Citizens United decision, but the increasingly obvious links between money, politics, and national security suggest it might be worth revisiting."
That's the driest understatement I have heard in a while.
Well obviously the Supreme Court misinterpreted the old saying “Put your money where your mouth is.” (Insert eye roll here)
lol Pat !
I couldn't agree with you more, J L Graham. My late husband, who was a juvenile and domestic relations court judge in Virginia, said that the Citizens United decision "marked the end of democracy as we know it." An avid reader of history, he was perturbed that there wasn't more of an outcry. He also said that if he were a younger person, he would leave the USA to find another country. Two years later when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he willingly left and with dignity, having felt that he had led a good life. This is the first time I have realized that perhaps it was his opportunity to exit to another place to live more freely. It all makes sense somehow. It's remarkable how long it takes to put grief in perspective among its many manifestations.
Touche JL... you beat me to that punch. Brava ~
One of the things I love about HCR- her dry wit and her ability to say something critically central in a sideways manner that makes you pay attention.
It would be interesting to see which news outlet representatives and others were allowed into the Kacsmaryk hearing. Does anyone know them?
No I do not Mary but, Alex Wagner on msnbc tonite was able to put the Judges' further briefing offer on the screen verbatim giving the Parties' "days & weeks" to supplement the record for his needs. This is not forum shopping, this is forum creation for review in the 5th District. Note, Kacsmaryk does not have immunity from the ethical rules of professional conduct.
Someone from NPR was in the courtroom. Chris Hayes had her on.
The Guo/Bannon corruption story is mindboggling in its blatency. So is Truth Social being funded by Putin cronies--again not that it happened but that it was so blatent--there are not 16 layers of intermediaries and shell companies.
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel did much to start the bank run on SVB and backed J.D. Vance. JD Vance wants to cut support for Ukraine unless it is tied to sourthern border protection spending. During his campaign he said he didn't care what happened in Ukraine.
Add in stirring the pot on Credit Suisse by the Saudi's and I would say that there is a new Russian/Chinese/Saudi/Iranian bloc looking to destroy Western democracies economically and via a vast disinformation campaign.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/jd-vance-washington-dont-trust-you-demands-white-house-release-audit-report-ukraine-spending
Georgia,
I am a little shocked that the Justice Department, after all that we have seen in the last two years or so, managed to only arrest a rich man who is also a Chinese National for something.
I mean, is it not possible to arrest Trump? Really?
Do we really have to arrest non-white rich folks when white rich folks are enjoying their steak at Mara Lago?
Some things never change.
Ditto to your response Mike S. I believe T has too many corrupt connections that work against his arrest and conviction. We can only hope and pray that something happens, and soon, to restore our faith in our justice system.
And keeping true corruption in the spotlight glare while using and promoting the power of the vote. Hitler advised delivering demands to the vanquished in installments. What has happened between Watergate, in which even many Republicans were disturbed by Nixon's abuse of power, and today?
At a certain point they say and do stuff openly. Corruption and the perception of total corruption explains politcal criminals taking selfies at the scene of a crime, never expecting to be obliged to explain it in court.
The gall of our political crooks, can’t even try to hide anymore
Add Republicans to your Russian/Chinese/Saudi/Iranian bloc list.
Georgia,
The Thiel connection to the SVB debacle is new to me. I'm quite curious about that. Thiel is horrific. He's like a weird mix of JP Morgan and a Bond villain
I must say, the GOP is very good at projecting its own crimes onto others
Kathy,
Yes, the GOP is very good at understanding how easily people believe their lies. They also understand the key role that Fox News plays in handing out those lies and ensuring that the ignorant masses "believe".
What they do best, Goebbels style. Every accusation is a confession, stolen from somewhere..
You go, Heather! END Citizens United! When will we quit enabling bad actors whose greed knows no bounds? When will we learn the meaning of ENOUGH? Time to lock up some crooks and tax some billionnaires.
Thank you again professor for your detailed summation. How do you do this night after night? I am truly nauseated by the greed and deception, collusion and more greed. Will someone please charge and convict these people. Is there no other charges that can be brought against the despicable Bannon. Yet I continue to hold on to hope that Justice will be served.
Did George Santos pay income tax on his $200k to $400k referral fee? If not, that could be a problem for him.
Naturally Santos is THE Go-To guy if you are looking for $20 million yacht. How would any billionaire get along without him?
I was incredulous at this. It seemed like a way to launder money, so to speak.
It sure does. Santos must have one heck of supply of detergent.
Please visit this link if you feel the need to have a laugh. Randy Rainbow has George Santos in the crosshairs:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQ5F7fve4N0
Oh, Randy is spot on with this sendup... thanks for the link.
One of his best. I’m waking up the family laughing.
R R is so clever!, TY for this. I fear George is living his little fantasy out in the context of a much larger fantasy!!!
OK, now I feel better 🤣
That was great Lynell. Thanks for the link. I really needed it and have sent it around to family and friends.
I want to add one more thing. This money, politics, discussion.
It needs to be put into law that a person can’t spend more on his campaign than his salary is for one year of the office he’s attempting to be elected for. The president’s salary is $400,000 a year, I think. It might be higher now, but I’ll use that as an example.
The presidential candidates would not be allowed to dorms over $400,000 on their campaigns. That’s it. Donations couldn’t be over $1,000, and all donations must be reported to the election commission.
This should be the law for every public office an election is held for, right down to city councilmen.
Daniel,
Perhaps being "bought" is a fundamental principal of our Democracy.
After all, John Adams was recruited by John Hancock, the richest man in Boston, to litigate for John Hancock such that Hancock would be relieved of taxes on his, then, illegal rum running into Boston Harbor.
Now, John Adams would not have described himself as a paid lobbyist for John Hancock.
But, he was the very first one to be "bought and paid for" to do the bidding of a rich white man in America.
btw: I am a huge fan of John Adams. However, that did not stop me from recognizing his early service to being a lobbyist.
Ha! Those guys of the Continental Congress had a good ol' time. Perhaps you are right that the seeds of our politics were cast from early days. The men who dallied in the courtly life of Europe to raise money, often for months at a time, were amazingly profligate. They included but were not limited to Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton. What may be more amazing is that their wives at home were doing the heavy lifting. They raised their children, ran the homesteads or farms, maintained small businesses and sometimes did fund-raising and politicking on behalf of their husbands. Ben Franklin's wife even raised his illegitimate son who became governor of New Jersey.
Hope. Excellent and well written post recognizing the role of women in the early founding of the US.
Kinda makes sense since they, as landed gentry, had to keep their assets protected - build it into the system.
That would make it difficult for our unpaid members of the town select board.
Oh well. It will stop the greed, money ‘pacs’ and mega-million dollar donors buying politicians though.
I believe that the chances of a ‘balanced budget’ in 2033 are, and should be, zero. The proper concern should be how we can have a fairer tax system to provide for the appropriate physical and social infrastructure of the United States.
The Republicans are again in their ‘dance of stupid storks’ (only performed in Democratic administrations).They oppose any new taxes on the wealthy and are awaiting another Republican administration to again reduce such taxes consonant with their fraudulent ‘trickle down’ pee pee policy.
In their false budgetary bloviating, they focus on the imperativeness of slashing ‘social expenditures’ to prevent budgetary suicide.
Meanwhile, President Biden is proposing a robust 2023 budget with a panoply of recommended new taxes and much needed social expenditures.
It seems likely that few, if any, of these new taxes will be enacted. Indeed, with the Kevin Crazies in the Animal House, it is uncertain whether a stalemate on the budget might lead to a failure to raise the national debt limit. A debt default could make the current Silicon Valley Bank fiscal dust up seem like a gentle walk in the park.
What is lacking is a serious discussion of national debt. The only time that America had no national debt was in the mid-1830s. The last time the budget was balanced was in President Clinton’s final year in office.
We are going to continue to have an annual budget deficit indefinitely. The appropriate issue is how much. Typically America’s national debt is calculated as a proportion of our Gross Domestic Product. During WW II this became humongous. High taxes were enacted and maintained for years and the debt/GDP ratio dropped substantially.
Assuming that our total economy will increase annually by 2-4% over the coming decade, then we have considerable wiggle room for increasing our total national debt.
Meanwhile the ‘debate’ over the budget deficit and the national debt is sprinkled with Republican foo foo dust.
When I was a kid, a ‘millionaire’ was a person who had over $1,000,000 in assets. Currently there are over 300,000 individuals who have annual incomes over $1,000,000.
Also, there are over 700 American billionaires—$1,000,000,000+.
When I was 16 I felt fortunate because I received 80 cents/hour—5 cents over the minimum wage—working in the summer in an industrial cafeteria of a Westinghouse plant in West Philadelphia.
I very seldom got a hot meal while in the army. Sometimes I ate my ice cream first before the siren went off on the rare occasions we actually made it to a mess hall. My roast water Buffalo sat forlornly on my abandoned trey. I think I will become a Republican now so I can also steal from the government. I have my heart set on getting a hamburger milk shake and French fries by whatever means necessary to exact my revenge. I don’t care if it breaks the bank! Maybe I could team up with Dartannon or whatever his name is. I would like it served on the yacht.
Once again the Federalist Society rears its ugly head. The Federalist Society is a right-wing organization formed 40 years ago to install judges in US courts who will rule according to conservative Christian principles*, instead of the Constitution or the rule of law. The six judges of the right-wing cabal on the Supreme Court that outlawed abortion are all Federalist Society members. And, no surprise, Kacsmaryk is a Federalist Society judge as well, who was specifically chosen by the right-wing Christians suing to make mifepristone illegal. It would be astounding if Kacsmaryk does not outlaw plan B. Welcome to Gilead.
* https://newrepublic.com/article/166993/leonard-leo-christian-right-future
Good call, John. The GOP Senate during all 4 years of the Seditionist Sociopath's reign, led by Machiavellian Mitch McConnell, rubber stamped so many of these judicial nominees with swift and wholly non deliberative dispatch.
I do not think it is hyperbolic to claim that this represented the only actual "packing" of the federal courts in American history.
The shameful, yet wholly predictable results are rolling in.
The Dobbs and Bruen decisions in particular, are already sowing the legal chaos and public alarm that no responsible Court would allow.
Dobbs is the first case that I know of where the Supreme Court snatched back a constitutional right of long standing and wide reliance from the American people.
I am literally sick to my stomach after this tonight. We have to get the money out of politics!
The one sting to corrupt it all. Regulate the excessive cash and screaming conflicts of interest. A nation is a terrible thing to lay to waste.
Take heart that we have LFAA and HCR. There are the investigative reporters such as Rachel Maddow, Mother Jones, and other excellent sub-stack letters. I wouldn't have known otherwise. You are not alone. Continue the "good trouble."
And AGAIN Bannon is involved! This sickens me.