Republicans are the rudest, most hateful people and full of pride for their “Christian” whiteness … them and their standard white Jesus … I seem to have abandoned my life long principles… my disgust and disdain for them doesn’t make me feel like a good person, but here we are.
The history of this event, the first black woman to be a Supreme Court Justice, was so terribly marred by the verbal abuse of the Republicans at her hearing and then by their complete disrespect toward her by walking out of the Senate, or by failing to dress, or by being late. Racism and misogyny all wrapped up in one. They will say , "Nothing personal-- just politics;" but how could it not be personal?
She has a tough road ahead of her....
Your Wilder story, which you have mentioned before, is so pertinent. The ? Is " When is it time to pack the steamer trunk and go?" And, where do we go?
Once again, just thanks. When everything seems crappy and gone to hell, I try to remember that at least there’s TC plugging away at idiots and traitors. Doesn’t always help but tonight it did.
I suspect the new primary rules in Alaska made it easier for Murkowski to vote like sane Republicans used to do many years ago. She was on video on the Democratic side of the Senate near Senator Blumenthal clapping along with all of the Democrats.
Thanks for the lesson! I have wondered how it can be that the supreme court is acknowledging only the part of the constitution they like, and ignoring the amendments that got you into your own time. It seems very far from interpreting the constitution and in fact rewriting it, which is not their job.
Good column and a good comment about the ninth amendment. The last clause of the tenth amendment completes the thought. But, as you point out, it can all be undone.
Yes, TCinLA!!! Observent. Intuitive. Prophetic. I have an old scrap of NYT in my jewelry box with words from an interview with a forgotten person that echo my feelings about Billy Wilder. It reads, “I don’t believe in God, but I believe in Billy Wilder.” That about sums it up for me. Every day, my hair is on fire from the latest thuggish behaviors and words of these Republican politicians. And, it’s been this way since 2000 when SCOTUS appointed the President. Bush. Cheney. All the wars, racism, corporate greed, wealth disparities, and etc. I’ve become so angry as I enter my old age. I stay to fight, but I ask myself: Is it still possible to love my country, as KBJ asserted at the WH? ❤️🤍💙
every day, the things these assholes are doing bring me a little closer to nihilism about the possibility that our government (and by extension, our country) is just not fixable. the nihilism I'm talking about is the direct result of this really weird burnt crop, take-no-prisoners position that the Other Party (Grand, never; Old, maybe; Party, not really) began with Gingrich but seems to have hit actual maturity with TFF. those guys are the nihilists. but walking out of the Senate? they remind me of pubescent delinquents filming their daring supermarket thefts on the cell phones they couldn't possibly afford themselves. and is the endgame really, finally, just about money? I also wish that when television news people talk about scumbags like Hawley, Cruz, Cotton et al they would stop prefacing their statements with things like "we know these are really smart people because look at where they went to school." all that bullshit does is reify this idea that in those places, everybody who attends just become smart by...OSMOSIS? play a moron on television long enough and see what happens. and yes, I'm afraid that, while C-Span was intended to provide a valuable service, it's also allowed the scumbags in Congress to do their performative thing every time they open their mouths.
Not just believe them, when they tell us who they are. Believe their followers. Someone who "held (his) nose and voted for tRump" is showing you exactly who they are as well. Fuckknuckles one and all.
Exactly. Believe them. Believe what you see gop legislatures and governors doing as they pass laws that actually gut the 14th amendment in their states. (at least that is how I see it, not having studied constitutional law). I keep telling voters if they give their vote to a gop candidate for any office in this current period of time, they are throwing away the Republic on the off chance that the person they vote for will actually take the oath of office and mean it. I'm reading Madeleine Albright's book Fascism. And it is easy to see that what we have going now are gop candidates taking office via democratic means and then doing all they can to crash democracy. That's what Fascists do because they are rooted in cynicism and the belief that only a few know what everyone else should be doing, believing, saying. And they're going to make sure you toe the line. Right now in Russia, the world's biggest Fascist state, people have begun turning their neighbors in for even supposing the "action in Ukraine" actually is a "WAR". A man was carrying a sign on white paper with astericks in place of letters which if seen would have spelled out "No to War" in Russian. He was hauled off to jail. Now there are laws in Texas that allow people to tattle on one another in order to stop women from even thinking about abortion. What in the world! It is madness the gop is pushing. The worst kind of virus. Only truth can vaccinate you against lies.
Billy Wilder did indeed say it best but was anyone listening?
Then came 2016 when we heard the Access tapes comments, the invitation to Moscow to deliver "those" emails, when we woke up the day after the election to find out that yes, Virginia, there is a horrible and scary clown and a goodly number of idiots have just now made him a "president." The history lessons about Hitler were always somewhat puzzling to me - I could not understand why this man rose to power in a country of supposedly intelligent people. But look what has happened to us. The. Same. Thing. Look what is happening in Ukraine. The. Same. Thing. And with this 6-3 Stench Bench and the Putrid Putin Party trying to cheat its way back into power, anything is possible. As you said so perfectly that which is given can be taken away.
It's happening again right before our eyes. And they are literally not only TELLING us about it they are BRAGGING about it.
What an excellent post, TC. I have had those same thoughts regarding the SC and precedents. I read a quote whose author I cannot recall that said “ The law is but man’s opinion.” I was in my 20’s and thought that idea was crazy, but as I reflected I realized how true it was. How many times have you thought there ought to be a law against some random behavior? Laws are opinions that a group of people have jointly decided to follow. Obviously, this stench court has in mind that a number of precedents are just wrong opinions.
Then there is an excellent quote from the book of Judges in the Old Testament. “ In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Judges 21:25 King=government =legal authority. No legal authority to hold people accountable for their criminal actions. That’s what these hateful, disrespectful, passive/aggressive rethuglicans are going for. These people want to send us back to the Gilded Age of every man for himself, and I mean that literally.
Thank you, TC, for clear, cogent, precise writing.
BAM! Great post and absolutely 100% fucking right on.
I can't add anything except that once again the most respected branch of a government in all of history ( I think Henny Youngman said that) acted like fucking cranky toddlers in need of a nap.
Next thing you know some of them will jointly heckle a POTUS at a SOTU address. Oh wait, never mind
I hate, truly hate those fucks with the intensity of 10,000 suns. It's like being pecked to death by chickens. Once you start to think they can't get any lower, there's Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
Thanks for mentioning Storm Thurmond walking out of the '48 Democratic convention, founding the Dixiecrats all because Truman was ending segregation in the armed forces. People look at Reagan and think this crazy, literally crazy shit started with him. Nope, these fuckers go way back.
It's maddening and just yesterday discussing politics with my 34 year old step son he added that with the mindset of these people you cannot argue facts to change them. That just makes them dig in deeper. They aren't like you and me ( for more info on this take a trip on YouTube to see reasons why this dissonance is so fucking frustrating)
You said earlier this week that the most important thing to do is vote blue in every election (local, state, federal) and take people with you. Staying home is just what the r thugs want you to do.
Ok, so I lied that I can't add anything to your terrific post.
And please Tom and all who follow this blog in the paraphrased words of "Brian's Song": when you hit your knees tonight to ask god for love, ask him to love Eric Boelhart too" RIP😰
You listed the settled laws that, given the upcoming SCOTUS appeal of Roe vs Wade, will next be struck down furthering the return of the nation to a facade that looks like 1950. Except, only half the nation will appear on compliance with the new-old legal system. Disunited we will be. I expect to age out by them. Thanks.
Republicans are the rudest, most hateful people and full of pride for their “Christian” whiteness … them and their standard white Jesus … I seem to have abandoned my life long principles… my disgust and disdain for them doesn’t make me feel like a good person, but here we are.
The history of this event, the first black woman to be a Supreme Court Justice, was so terribly marred by the verbal abuse of the Republicans at her hearing and then by their complete disrespect toward her by walking out of the Senate, or by failing to dress, or by being late. Racism and misogyny all wrapped up in one. They will say , "Nothing personal-- just politics;" but how could it not be personal?
She has a tough road ahead of her....
Your Wilder story, which you have mentioned before, is so pertinent. The ? Is " When is it time to pack the steamer trunk and go?" And, where do we go?
Once again, just thanks. When everything seems crappy and gone to hell, I try to remember that at least there’s TC plugging away at idiots and traitors. Doesn’t always help but tonight it did.
I suspect the new primary rules in Alaska made it easier for Murkowski to vote like sane Republicans used to do many years ago. She was on video on the Democratic side of the Senate near Senator Blumenthal clapping along with all of the Democrats.
Thanks for the lesson! I have wondered how it can be that the supreme court is acknowledging only the part of the constitution they like, and ignoring the amendments that got you into your own time. It seems very far from interpreting the constitution and in fact rewriting it, which is not their job.
Good column and a good comment about the ninth amendment. The last clause of the tenth amendment completes the thought. But, as you point out, it can all be undone.
Yes, TCinLA!!! Observent. Intuitive. Prophetic. I have an old scrap of NYT in my jewelry box with words from an interview with a forgotten person that echo my feelings about Billy Wilder. It reads, “I don’t believe in God, but I believe in Billy Wilder.” That about sums it up for me. Every day, my hair is on fire from the latest thuggish behaviors and words of these Republican politicians. And, it’s been this way since 2000 when SCOTUS appointed the President. Bush. Cheney. All the wars, racism, corporate greed, wealth disparities, and etc. I’ve become so angry as I enter my old age. I stay to fight, but I ask myself: Is it still possible to love my country, as KBJ asserted at the WH? ❤️🤍💙
every day, the things these assholes are doing bring me a little closer to nihilism about the possibility that our government (and by extension, our country) is just not fixable. the nihilism I'm talking about is the direct result of this really weird burnt crop, take-no-prisoners position that the Other Party (Grand, never; Old, maybe; Party, not really) began with Gingrich but seems to have hit actual maturity with TFF. those guys are the nihilists. but walking out of the Senate? they remind me of pubescent delinquents filming their daring supermarket thefts on the cell phones they couldn't possibly afford themselves. and is the endgame really, finally, just about money? I also wish that when television news people talk about scumbags like Hawley, Cruz, Cotton et al they would stop prefacing their statements with things like "we know these are really smart people because look at where they went to school." all that bullshit does is reify this idea that in those places, everybody who attends just become smart by...OSMOSIS? play a moron on television long enough and see what happens. and yes, I'm afraid that, while C-Span was intended to provide a valuable service, it's also allowed the scumbags in Congress to do their performative thing every time they open their mouths.
Not just believe them, when they tell us who they are. Believe their followers. Someone who "held (his) nose and voted for tRump" is showing you exactly who they are as well. Fuckknuckles one and all.
Great essay! Thanks.
Exactly. Believe them. Believe what you see gop legislatures and governors doing as they pass laws that actually gut the 14th amendment in their states. (at least that is how I see it, not having studied constitutional law). I keep telling voters if they give their vote to a gop candidate for any office in this current period of time, they are throwing away the Republic on the off chance that the person they vote for will actually take the oath of office and mean it. I'm reading Madeleine Albright's book Fascism. And it is easy to see that what we have going now are gop candidates taking office via democratic means and then doing all they can to crash democracy. That's what Fascists do because they are rooted in cynicism and the belief that only a few know what everyone else should be doing, believing, saying. And they're going to make sure you toe the line. Right now in Russia, the world's biggest Fascist state, people have begun turning their neighbors in for even supposing the "action in Ukraine" actually is a "WAR". A man was carrying a sign on white paper with astericks in place of letters which if seen would have spelled out "No to War" in Russian. He was hauled off to jail. Now there are laws in Texas that allow people to tattle on one another in order to stop women from even thinking about abortion. What in the world! It is madness the gop is pushing. The worst kind of virus. Only truth can vaccinate you against lies.
Billy Wilder did indeed say it best but was anyone listening?
Then came 2016 when we heard the Access tapes comments, the invitation to Moscow to deliver "those" emails, when we woke up the day after the election to find out that yes, Virginia, there is a horrible and scary clown and a goodly number of idiots have just now made him a "president." The history lessons about Hitler were always somewhat puzzling to me - I could not understand why this man rose to power in a country of supposedly intelligent people. But look what has happened to us. The. Same. Thing. Look what is happening in Ukraine. The. Same. Thing. And with this 6-3 Stench Bench and the Putrid Putin Party trying to cheat its way back into power, anything is possible. As you said so perfectly that which is given can be taken away.
It's happening again right before our eyes. And they are literally not only TELLING us about it they are BRAGGING about it.
What an excellent post, TC. I have had those same thoughts regarding the SC and precedents. I read a quote whose author I cannot recall that said “ The law is but man’s opinion.” I was in my 20’s and thought that idea was crazy, but as I reflected I realized how true it was. How many times have you thought there ought to be a law against some random behavior? Laws are opinions that a group of people have jointly decided to follow. Obviously, this stench court has in mind that a number of precedents are just wrong opinions.
Then there is an excellent quote from the book of Judges in the Old Testament. “ In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Judges 21:25 King=government =legal authority. No legal authority to hold people accountable for their criminal actions. That’s what these hateful, disrespectful, passive/aggressive rethuglicans are going for. These people want to send us back to the Gilded Age of every man for himself, and I mean that literally.
Thank you, TC, for clear, cogent, precise writing.
Thanks for this, TC. I needed to visit LII a few times, but it was a useful exercise.
BAM! Great post and absolutely 100% fucking right on.
I can't add anything except that once again the most respected branch of a government in all of history ( I think Henny Youngman said that) acted like fucking cranky toddlers in need of a nap.
Next thing you know some of them will jointly heckle a POTUS at a SOTU address. Oh wait, never mind
I hate, truly hate those fucks with the intensity of 10,000 suns. It's like being pecked to death by chickens. Once you start to think they can't get any lower, there's Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown.
Thanks for mentioning Storm Thurmond walking out of the '48 Democratic convention, founding the Dixiecrats all because Truman was ending segregation in the armed forces. People look at Reagan and think this crazy, literally crazy shit started with him. Nope, these fuckers go way back.
It's maddening and just yesterday discussing politics with my 34 year old step son he added that with the mindset of these people you cannot argue facts to change them. That just makes them dig in deeper. They aren't like you and me ( for more info on this take a trip on YouTube to see reasons why this dissonance is so fucking frustrating)
You said earlier this week that the most important thing to do is vote blue in every election (local, state, federal) and take people with you. Staying home is just what the r thugs want you to do.
Ok, so I lied that I can't add anything to your terrific post.
And please Tom and all who follow this blog in the paraphrased words of "Brian's Song": when you hit your knees tonight to ask god for love, ask him to love Eric Boelhart too" RIP😰
You listed the settled laws that, given the upcoming SCOTUS appeal of Roe vs Wade, will next be struck down furthering the return of the nation to a facade that looks like 1950. Except, only half the nation will appear on compliance with the new-old legal system. Disunited we will be. I expect to age out by them. Thanks.