I hope those considering voting (again) for President Bone Spurs remember that he mocked John McCain in public for having been a Vietnam POW. Remember that on this Memorial Day Weekend. I hope it informs your voting in a year and a half.
What happened to the Colbert section on alternate names for T****? I loved that and love your "President Bone Spurs." I sent one in, "Trumpasaurus Rex Wannabe." I thought that was pretty good, too, though I never saw him use it.
I’m so angry about this latest SCOTUS decision. Marjory Stoneman Douglas did so much work to ensure that the Everglades continues to be an effective “River of Grass” to keep the wetlands of Florida healthy. I’m certain that the FL Governor will take full advantage of this decision.
And, because it’s all about me, I wonder how this will impact my little piece of paradise on the edge of Adirondack Park. One third healthy wetlands, two-thirds undeveloped 2nd growth forest. Hikes have shown me endangered flowers as well as beaver factories (trees in various stages of production to bring out to their dams.) If my upstream neighbors start farming with more aggressive pesticides - I don’t even want to think about it.
I’m not going to be happy watching this play out. Time for more Justices.
I am sick over this latest abomination of a scotus decision. Over 40+ years I have seen the degradation of the beautiful and magnificent Everglades, the disappearing fauna and flora. I hope and pray you do not experience this destruction in your beautiful wetlands🙏🏽
Some good news from Texas, a state desperate for that these days. A very Republican Texas House Ethics Committee has unanimously recommended impeachment of State AG Ken Paxton. There is no doubt some behind the door politics are involved, but it appears there are at least some Rs who know Paxton’s corruption makes him unfit to serve. We have some bad guys at the top in this state, and there are definitely power struggles, but still this first step is welcome news.
1 big thing: House committee recommends impeaching Paxton
Now I assume they need a vote of the full House then a 2/3 majority in the TX Senate to convict him. I hope the House Ethics Committee counted votes before issuing their recommendation.
In the meantime, from the Axios article: "Overturning elections begins behind closed doors," Paxton tweeted, after the committee met privately to discuss the matter." True enough though I doubt that's what Paxton meant with his tweet.
Yes, I believe that is right. Reporting is that there are more than half of House willing to impeach. I don't know about the Senate (where his wife is a senator). Besides the obvious (multi-year indictment, etc.), I think there is growing frustration with what Paxton is costing the state now and will cost the state in the future.
For those interested, Democracy Docket interviewed newly elected to the U.S. House of Representatives Jennifer McClellan. She had served in the Virginia House of Delegates and then the State Senate before taking office in the Congress just this past February 2023. Jennifer shepherded Virginia's progressive Voting Rights Act of Virginia, fashioning it from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“We’ve got a pro-democracy majority and we’re going to use it”: How McClellan’s tenure in state politics transformed Virginia.
"During her time in the state Legislature, McClellan worked to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, pass clean energy legislation and protect reproductive rights. In just four years, from 2016 to 2020, Virginia went from the second-hardest state to vote in to the 12th easiest state. McClellan credits that dramatic jump to a number of electoral reforms passed in 2020, all signed by former Gov. Ralph Northam (D). The state adopted no-excuse mail-in voting and same-day registration, designated Election Day as a holiday, created one of the longest early voting periods in the country, allowed anyone to vote early without a stated reason, repealed the strictest aspects of the state’s voter ID law and more."
Jennifer is someone I will be watching when we get our national trifecta back in 2024. I expect she will be key in writing new laws for our country, ones that will be hard to challenge successfully...fingers crossed!
While the chaos in GOP campaigns, the debt limit insanity, Russian war, China vs Tawain, the climate assault goes on and on and on.....bahbies are born. Grandbaby #6 is here, not fully named but here, and his world begins. Local building issues and school issues abound, healthcare policy is an ongoing unfair mess and yet children are born and start to grow. We must give them a world that is better than this. So make a plan to make a difference.
Enough of this debt limit crap. The 14th Amendment should be invoked to declare the debt limit unconstitutional. The president should act accordingly to the Constitution with regard to the debt limit. STOP giving credence to these MAGA extremist terrorists. One does NOT negotiate with terrorists.
Joe Biden did NOT create this debt ceiling crisis, the radical extreme MAGAts did. That fact should be sounded loud and long at every opportunity, just like the MAGA agenda to cut Social Security and Medicare should be proclaimed.
Ronna McDaniel has been wrong in her interpretation of so many things - like the nature and purpose of the insurrection for the first example, the debt default by America for the second, that it's a wonder that leadership of the GOP wants her anywhere near a microphone or, heaven forbid, in the highest ranks of their own leadership.
I think Robert's unflinching analysis of the forces we're up against, and their unrelenting malignity, is truly important. There is no alternative to defeating them, and no one to count on but ourselves. This underscores the importance of everything we do as individuals , and /or to assist each other's best efforts, as part of our collective defense of democracy. It seems that Robert's underlying message is this: we can, and we must, take the future personally. It's great that so many people are making that commitment.
Correction: unless they changed the state constitution when I wasn’t looking, Virginia governors cannot be re-elected, so Gov. Youngkin is *not* up for re-election in 2025 as was stated in a quote in the newsletter.
My hunch is that Ron DeSantis isn’t running against Trump, but to be left standing if or when TFG is out of the running due to health or indictment or having grifted enough. He is likely to want to benefit from the MAGA base rage when TFG is removed from the campaign. The pollsters are constantly comparing Ron to Don. The question that they should ask GOP voters is who would they support if TFG was taken out.
Excellent piece as always, Robert. My first thoughts are the prison system should start making a very large orange jumpsuit for future prisoner T*%#)*. The second thought is that we can never let up our guard or our support of candidates to fight this barrage of rhetoric and plan that has been in place to systematically undo democracy. Arkansas governor(A JOKE!) just put education back 50+ years. And DeSaster(to quote Ana Navarro) is a very dangerous clown with an equally dangerous wife.
Hi, Gayer. Thanks for raising Arkansas. I would love to link to an article about what is happening in Arkansas. If you see any, please forward a link to rhubbell@outlook.com.
Postcards again ---- I have gotten 240 postcards from the CIVICS Centre to contact high school and college kids about registering and voting. They ARE effective - increasing participation enormously - that's the good new.
BUT --- Alito and the Reactionaries -The genocidal anti-abortion fiends (a professor colleague of mine looks up the definition of genocide - and said it meets the criteria; and the debt ceiling --- all weighs very heavily.
You can't negotiate with people who have major character disorders ---- i.e. no remorse, no conscience, no empathy and assigning to others their malevolent actions and beliefs. Form a psychiatric perspective, the ONLY thing that works are clear, unyielding limits. ---- I'm upping my prozac!!
I think you nailed it. Reactionaries are not right in the head. They seem to have some missing parts. But they have no right to inflict their misery on the rest of us. Good luck with the Prozac and the postcards 😊
Charging Trump for his attempted coup is far more important than any of his other crimes. Let’s hope Jack Smith is one the case.
Remember that Al Capone went down for tax evasion, not murder or racketeering. Let’s take what we can get and be happy with it.
Let’s just get rid of this bunch of rotten bananas period.
Suspect this would also strengthen cases against sitting representatives who partook.
It might inspire cases to be brought; so far, to the best of my knowledge, there aren't any.
There should be...
Behavioural standards for Congresspersons aren't what they used to be.
Exactly
I hope those considering voting (again) for President Bone Spurs remember that he mocked John McCain in public for having been a Vietnam POW. Remember that on this Memorial Day Weekend. I hope it informs your voting in a year and a half.
What happened to the Colbert section on alternate names for T****? I loved that and love your "President Bone Spurs." I sent one in, "Trumpasaurus Rex Wannabe." I thought that was pretty good, too, though I never saw him use it.
I hope the Writers strike is settled favorably soon so Mr. Colbert can get back on the air!
I’m so angry about this latest SCOTUS decision. Marjory Stoneman Douglas did so much work to ensure that the Everglades continues to be an effective “River of Grass” to keep the wetlands of Florida healthy. I’m certain that the FL Governor will take full advantage of this decision.
And, because it’s all about me, I wonder how this will impact my little piece of paradise on the edge of Adirondack Park. One third healthy wetlands, two-thirds undeveloped 2nd growth forest. Hikes have shown me endangered flowers as well as beaver factories (trees in various stages of production to bring out to their dams.) If my upstream neighbors start farming with more aggressive pesticides - I don’t even want to think about it.
I’m not going to be happy watching this play out. Time for more Justices.
I am sick over this latest abomination of a scotus decision. Over 40+ years I have seen the degradation of the beautiful and magnificent Everglades, the disappearing fauna and flora. I hope and pray you do not experience this destruction in your beautiful wetlands🙏🏽
I feel your pain. Nature is both a balm and a gift. To hand it off to this demolition derby is heart wrenching. We can’t give up.
Some good news from Texas, a state desperate for that these days. A very Republican Texas House Ethics Committee has unanimously recommended impeachment of State AG Ken Paxton. There is no doubt some behind the door politics are involved, but it appears there are at least some Rs who know Paxton’s corruption makes him unfit to serve. We have some bad guys at the top in this state, and there are definitely power struggles, but still this first step is welcome news.
1 big thing: House committee recommends impeaching Paxton
https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-dallas-676c72ac-b623-42d8-8ea9-ca45b15187e5.html?chunk=0&utm_term=emshare#story0
Now I assume they need a vote of the full House then a 2/3 majority in the TX Senate to convict him. I hope the House Ethics Committee counted votes before issuing their recommendation.
In the meantime, from the Axios article: "Overturning elections begins behind closed doors," Paxton tweeted, after the committee met privately to discuss the matter." True enough though I doubt that's what Paxton meant with his tweet.
Yes, I believe that is right. Reporting is that there are more than half of House willing to impeach. I don't know about the Senate (where his wife is a senator). Besides the obvious (multi-year indictment, etc.), I think there is growing frustration with what Paxton is costing the state now and will cost the state in the future.
Many thanks, Robert, for your efforts regarding Virginia! I "stole" this map from a reader a few days ago. I find it very helpful to zero in on the Dem candidates heading into June 20th's primary. https://embed.kumu.io/404d5fa865922b5fc8eccda37301f2b5#virginia-2023
For those interested, Democracy Docket interviewed newly elected to the U.S. House of Representatives Jennifer McClellan. She had served in the Virginia House of Delegates and then the State Senate before taking office in the Congress just this past February 2023. Jennifer shepherded Virginia's progressive Voting Rights Act of Virginia, fashioning it from the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“We’ve got a pro-democracy majority and we’re going to use it”: How McClellan’s tenure in state politics transformed Virginia.
"During her time in the state Legislature, McClellan worked to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, pass clean energy legislation and protect reproductive rights. In just four years, from 2016 to 2020, Virginia went from the second-hardest state to vote in to the 12th easiest state. McClellan credits that dramatic jump to a number of electoral reforms passed in 2020, all signed by former Gov. Ralph Northam (D). The state adopted no-excuse mail-in voting and same-day registration, designated Election Day as a holiday, created one of the longest early voting periods in the country, allowed anyone to vote early without a stated reason, repealed the strictest aspects of the state’s voter ID law and more."
https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/from-virginia-to-congress-jennifer-mcclellan-champions-voting-rights/
Jennifer is someone I will be watching when we get our national trifecta back in 2024. I expect she will be key in writing new laws for our country, ones that will be hard to challenge successfully...fingers crossed!
While the chaos in GOP campaigns, the debt limit insanity, Russian war, China vs Tawain, the climate assault goes on and on and on.....bahbies are born. Grandbaby #6 is here, not fully named but here, and his world begins. Local building issues and school issues abound, healthcare policy is an ongoing unfair mess and yet children are born and start to grow. We must give them a world that is better than this. So make a plan to make a difference.
Congrats!!
Good call 😊
Thanks for the reminder about The States Project grapevine - I'd been meaning to join and finally did so, and made a small donation.
https://www.grapevine.org/c/1XQhnyD?gvu=kwuZj1
Thank you, Janice! Our small donations add up to effective impact!
I did too!
Enough of this debt limit crap. The 14th Amendment should be invoked to declare the debt limit unconstitutional. The president should act accordingly to the Constitution with regard to the debt limit. STOP giving credence to these MAGA extremist terrorists. One does NOT negotiate with terrorists.
Joe Biden did NOT create this debt ceiling crisis, the radical extreme MAGAts did. That fact should be sounded loud and long at every opportunity, just like the MAGA agenda to cut Social Security and Medicare should be proclaimed.
Your right he did not create it and the Republicans need to pay for it and stop trying to hold us hostage.
You are absolutely right.
Ronna McDaniel has been wrong in her interpretation of so many things - like the nature and purpose of the insurrection for the first example, the debt default by America for the second, that it's a wonder that leadership of the GOP wants her anywhere near a microphone or, heaven forbid, in the highest ranks of their own leadership.
Well guess what-they want the default so bad? How many lower income MAGA’s are they going to hurt?
Exactly.
All of them, who, like Niedermeyer will line up and say “thank you sir, may I have another”*
*Animal House reference
There really is so much about theGOP that I don’t understand. But I do understand that we need to defeat them.
I think Robert's unflinching analysis of the forces we're up against, and their unrelenting malignity, is truly important. There is no alternative to defeating them, and no one to count on but ourselves. This underscores the importance of everything we do as individuals , and /or to assist each other's best efforts, as part of our collective defense of democracy. It seems that Robert's underlying message is this: we can, and we must, take the future personally. It's great that so many people are making that commitment.
I am loving your book! I will buy it to see how it ends.
Correction: unless they changed the state constitution when I wasn’t looking, Virginia governors cannot be re-elected, so Gov. Youngkin is *not* up for re-election in 2025 as was stated in a quote in the newsletter.
Good catch about Youngkin, David. Still, we here in Virginia need to be vigilant in 2025 about the next R to take his place running for Governor.
My hunch is that Ron DeSantis isn’t running against Trump, but to be left standing if or when TFG is out of the running due to health or indictment or having grifted enough. He is likely to want to benefit from the MAGA base rage when TFG is removed from the campaign. The pollsters are constantly comparing Ron to Don. The question that they should ask GOP voters is who would they support if TFG was taken out.
Again- orange idiot’s airplane update/renovation. Upcoming indictments. Becoming a ‘loser’. Money.
FLIGHT RISK! Take away his passport, and confiscate the plane.
I’m really sick of hearing about either of them.
Excellent piece as always, Robert. My first thoughts are the prison system should start making a very large orange jumpsuit for future prisoner T*%#)*. The second thought is that we can never let up our guard or our support of candidates to fight this barrage of rhetoric and plan that has been in place to systematically undo democracy. Arkansas governor(A JOKE!) just put education back 50+ years. And DeSaster(to quote Ana Navarro) is a very dangerous clown with an equally dangerous wife.
Hi, Gayer. Thanks for raising Arkansas. I would love to link to an article about what is happening in Arkansas. If you see any, please forward a link to rhubbell@outlook.com.
I will do that, Robert. Not sure why the site uses my last name(Gayer Beitch)when my first name is Josepha! Enjoy the weekend.
My mistake!
Not yours. I edited my profile. 😍
"Attila the Hun" and "judicial mood rings" in the same essay! Brilliant, Robert, brilliant!
Thanks for keeping us laughing, chortling, smiling. They all count toward keeping us going!
Postcards again ---- I have gotten 240 postcards from the CIVICS Centre to contact high school and college kids about registering and voting. They ARE effective - increasing participation enormously - that's the good new.
BUT --- Alito and the Reactionaries -The genocidal anti-abortion fiends (a professor colleague of mine looks up the definition of genocide - and said it meets the criteria; and the debt ceiling --- all weighs very heavily.
You can't negotiate with people who have major character disorders ---- i.e. no remorse, no conscience, no empathy and assigning to others their malevolent actions and beliefs. Form a psychiatric perspective, the ONLY thing that works are clear, unyielding limits. ---- I'm upping my prozac!!
I think you nailed it. Reactionaries are not right in the head. They seem to have some missing parts. But they have no right to inflict their misery on the rest of us. Good luck with the Prozac and the postcards 😊
Thanks! I just signed up to get info from the Civics Center. Our best hope is getting young people to vote!
Paraphrasing Will Rogers: We have the best Supreme Court that money can buy."