The Court

US supreme court rules against EPA and hobbles government power to limit harmful emissions

How would I describe our situation under this ultra-conservative, religious extremist Trump Supreme Court? To quote Aliens, w're on an express elevator to hell, going down. And they're only getting started.

Hillary

Hillary Clinton discussing the overturning of Roe. I have always thought she was a good feminist example. She gave a speech in 1995 at the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, in which she famously said that "human rights are women's rights and women's rights are human rights".

Day 6

Yesterday was the 6th installment of the House January 6 Committee hearings. It featured testimony by Cassidy Hutchinson, the assistant to Trump's White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows.

You should watch the whole thing, of course, but what stood out to me was ...

Members of the crowd attending Trump's rally at the Ellipse were armed with pistols and AR-15s, among other weapons. The Secret Service was aware of this and Trump was also aware of this.

These armed people were staying on the outskirts of the rally because they didn't want to pass through the magnetometers and surrender their weapons. Trump told the Secret Service to remove the "mags" so that the armed members of the crowd could come closer, saying "I don't F-ing care that they have weapons. They're not here to hurt me". He said he wanted them all to march together to the Capitol from the Ellipse, him leading.

But Trump's security detail and White House advisors decided it wasn't a good idea for Trump to go to the Capitol and refused to allow him to go. Trump was so upset by this, he tried to take control of the wheel of the car and lunged at a Secret Service agent's neck.

So .... Trump made sure the mob at his rally remained armed with weapons that included AR-15s (the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers having already begun breaking into the Capitol). Trump planned to lead this armed mob to the Capitol, after a speech in which he encouraged them to "fight like hell". When he wasn't allowed to go, he threw a tantrum and refused to call in the National Guard, as he watched on tv as the mob at the Capitol hunted down Mike Pense.

And Republicans still want to re-elect him.

Military bases

White House press secretary says using federal lands for abortion services would have ‘dangerous ramifications’

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that using federal lands for abortion services would have “dangerous ramifications,” rejecting calls from several Democratic lawmakers for President Joe Biden to allow abortion providers to work from federal property in states where the procedure is banned. “We understand the proposal is well-intentioned, but here’s the thing: It could actually put women and providers at risk,” ...

Well, welcome to our world. Women's clinics have been under threat of violence from religious extremists for decades - protestors, vandalism, bombs, kidnappings, murders. If Planned Parenthood has been able to stand up to that, why can't the federal goovernment?

Of course it would be unworkable to try to create clinics on Native American land or national parks, but it could be done on military bases. Military bases already have medical facilities and personnel - I myself was born on an army base. And a military base would be one of the safest places for a clinic.

The Biden administration needs to do more for women in this siruation than just telling them to vote in November.

AOC

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Meet The Press yesterday ...

Religious & pro-choice

From joy to anger, faith leaders react to Roe’s reversal

Religious Americans are deeply divided in their views on abortion, and reactions from faith leaders ranged from elation to anger after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that made abortion legal nationwide

[....]

Nadiah Mohajir, co-founder of Heart Women and Girls, a Chicago nonprofit that works with Muslim communities on reproductive rights, expressed dismay: “More than half of American Muslims support safe access to abortion. What we’re seeing here is a very small minority of privileged people who are trying to impose a narrow Christian understanding of when life begins.“

[....]

"Today’s Supreme Court decision ... discarding nearly 50 years of precedent, will endanger the lives and well-being of birthing people who do not choose to continue pregnancy. God loves and cares for people who have abortions, and so does the United Church of Christ.” — General ministers of the United Church of Christ, in a joint statement.

[....]

“Abortion bans place greater value on the life of the fetus than on the pregnant person, a violation of both Jewish law and tradition and of American religious liberty. Now, it seems only certain people are entitled to religious liberty, which renders the entire concept meaningless.” — Sheila Katz, CEO of the National Council of Jewish Women, in a statement.

[....]

“Catholics on the right spent decades reducing church teaching to a single issue and linked arms with a conservative movement that is hostile to the church’s teachings about a consistent ethic of life and the common good. This ruling is the culmination of that misguided campaign.” — John Gehring, Catholic program director at the Washington-based clergy network Faith in Public Life, via Twitter.

[....]

“I support the right to life. ... But it’s not my choice. When mostly white legislators pass laws that affect Black bodies, it’s criminalizing the plight of the poor. Once a child is born, there are disparities in health care, education, housing and employment. We could care less about a child outside the womb. It’s a sad day in America.” — The Rev. Clinton Stancil, lead pastor of Wayman African Methodist Episcopal Church in St. Louis, in an interview.

[....]

“I am deeply grieved. ... I have been ordained more than 40 years, and I have served as a pastor in poor communities; I have witnessed firsthand the negative impact this decision will have. ... Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that women without the same resources will not.” — Michael Curry, presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, in a statement.

[....]

The Catholic church and Republican Evangelicals would have us believe that every religious person is anti-abortion and that every religion and denomination is anti-abortion. Not true.

America

The top story today at America magazine: ‘We thank God today’: Catholics react to the end of Roe v. Wade

I just have to say ...

1) Actually, most Catholics are *not* thanking God today. What America magazine knows, but doesn't want to admit, is that most Catholics are pro-choice. From Pew ... More than half of U.S. Catholics (56%) said abortion should be legal in all or most cases.

2) Yes, the Catholic church, and more recently the Society of Jesus, tell us that God is against abortion. But the truth is, there is nothing in the bible, OT or NT, about abortion. Jesus never mentioned it. In fact, Judaism does not condemn abortion (Jewish groups gear up to battle abortion bans after Roe overturned). And many Christian denominations, like the Episcopal church, support women's reproductive rights.

The male leadership of the Catholic church has for centuries worked to keep women down and powerless. Even now, women in the Catholic church are told that childbearing is their main purpose in life. They cannot be deacons, much less priests, and Pope Francis has declared that women will never be priests. The Catholic church is hardly objective on women's rights (Pope Francis' Woman Problem).

America magazine wants you to believe that their agenda on abortion is also God's agenda. There's no compelling reason to believe that.

More: From joy to anger, faith leaders react to Roe’s reversal

Rusty Bowers

Along with millions of others yesterday, I listened to Rusty Bowers give testimony about how he was lied to and coerced and intimidated by Trump and his legion of creeps because he wouldn't help Trump overturn the last election. And then today I read that Bowers still plans to vote for Trump, despite the fact that he knows from his own personal experience that Trump is a liar, a crook, and a sociopath.

The Comment That Reveals the Depths of the Republican Party’s Moral Collapse

I'm really depressed about himan nature.

Day 4

This 4th hearing by the January 6 Committee was so disturbing. It dealt with the incredible damage Trump has dealt to election officials who refused to bow to the pressure to lie for him. Very emotional. God, how many people has Trump crushed? When will he be held accountable?

Oleander

Manta rays

RT to spread that #FridayFeeling 😃 pic.twitter.com/fyEkJcII4x

— Oceana (@oceana) June 17, 2022

One place I like to visit is Oceana

Day 3

Watched the third day of the January 6 House Committee's hearings. It was another very informative session, all about Mike Pence and the scheme Trump and lawyer John Eastman had cooked up ... Pence would call the election for Trump. But Pence refused to go along with the plot (thank you, God!).

It would be best to watch the whole hearing, but here are some helps ...

Dusk

Every day when it starts to get dark (about 8:30), I come outside and hang around until darkness. It's the time when a lot of people are out and about here, and I want to keep my eye on the cats to make sure they are (relatively) safe. I water the plants, sweep the driveway, etc.

Sorry about the quality of the photos. Because the light is so dim, they turn out fuzzy and weirdly lit. But here are a few fron tonight ...

Looking down the street ...

Here's the poor old walnut tree. It has just died. Sad. I thought it had come back from mistletoe infestation, but the drought has done it in. It's pretty big - now I'm worried it will fall over and sqaush someone ...

The skunk family comes out at night to munch on the leftover cat food ...

And here's Olive, sitting by the porch light ...

Day 2

Today's hearing was really internesting, even more so to me than the first day. What I learned ...

- From before the election, Trump told his followers that the election would be rigged if he didn't win.

- Before the election, Trump's advisors informed him multiple times about the red mirage, that Republicans tend to vote on election day, while Democrats tend to use mail-in ballots, which leads to an early Republican surge in election day results which are later overtaken by Democratic votes. Yet Trump still used this phenomena to feed his lies of fraud.

- Before the election and during the election, Trump's advisors informed him that he was losing.

- Despite this information, Trump decided to tell the public on the night of the election that he had won the election.

- Thereafter, Trump told everyone that the election had been stolen from him by voter fraud. He tasked all his minions, including Bill Barr, with investigating various allegations of fraud. All of them found, and told him, that there was no fraud.

- Trump launched more than 60 court cases to prove voter fraud. All of the cases, even those overseen by Trump appointed judges, were dismissed for various reasons, including a lack of evidence.

- Trump used his "big lie" to enrage his followers to the point that they attacked the Capitol.

- Throughout all this Trump has been raising money from small-dollar donors to supposedly help him with court costs in his bid to overturn the election. He hasn't actually been using the money - hundreds of millions - for this purpose.

The Stones

This song is in my head today.

The Parasites

Jared and Ivanka, Without the Power or the Masks

One of the rather creepy parts of the first January 6 Committee hearing was the video clips from interviews with Ivanka and Jared, or as I think of them, 'the parasites', who spent their time in the White House grifting (Jared and Ivanka made up to $640 million in the White House) and killing people (“That’s Their Problem”: How Jared Kushner Let the Markets Decide America’s COVID-19 Fate).

God, will they ever be held to account for what they did?

Day 1

Liz Cheney: "I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible. There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain."

Hearings

I watched the Watergate Hearings, back in the day. I was in college at the time and also working part-time as a clerk in an Air Force base tv repair shop. I watched the hearings because I was alone all day in the shop ... no co-workers, no customers ... with a constantly-on tv ;). I'm glad I watched.

Tomorrow night (8pm Eastern) will be the first tv prime-time installment of the January 6 Committee's work product. I will be watching. I hope everyone else will be too.

How to watch the Jan. 6 committee hearings and what to watch for

Varmints

Today parents of victims of the Uvalde school shooting, and a survivor, and families of victims in Buffalo, and a doctor, gave testimony before Congress about gun safety laws. The Republicans there were impervious to their pleas. There will be no assault weapons ban. Because, you know, the Republicans must defend themselves from those varmints.

Podcast

Listening to this podcast with philosopher Francis Fukuyama (while eating pistachio ice cream for lunch) ...



EPISODE SUMMARY

Freedom House’s annual Freedom in the World survey notes that liberalism has rapidly declined each year for the last 16 years. And its precipitous downturn is more evident now than ever amid waning respect for individual rights, increased growth of autocracies and most recently in the seismic Russian invasion of Ukraine. Decades ago, political scientist and professor Francis Fukuyama was one of the preeminent scholars to predict the marked impending fall of liberal societies. He serves as a senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and is a bestselling author of numerous books, including one published in March 2022 aptly titled, “Liberalism and Its Discontents.” He joins WITHpod to discuss why liberalism doesn’t always live up to its own principles, challenges from the right and the left and why our democracy will be under continued threat without a revitalized approach to its core tenets.

Steube

During a House hearing on gun laws, Florida Republican Congressman Greg Steube shows everyone his marvelous gun collection, which he says he needs to protect his woman, but which I suspect instead he needs to protect his pathetically inadequate manhood. Is he 12?

Let's not pretend anymore. The honest Republican argument about guns is the same as the honest Republican argument about COVID restrictions and the honest Republican argument about abortion/contraception ... we know a lot more people will die if we get our way, but we don't care as long as "we can do whatever we want".

Verdict

The Depp v. Heard trial is over. Depp essentially won.

I don't think he should have ... the facts of his substance abuse and physical abuse of Heard are uncontested, and that's why the earlier British trial found for Heard. But Depp is famous and rich and popular, so the court helped him send out the message all old rich famous guys want their much younger and less powerful trophy wives to hear .... screw with me at your peril.

I'll soon forget about this ugly trial, but I won't forget the disgust I now feel for Depp. An example of why ...

He [Depp] repeatedly referred to Heard as a “cunt” and a “filthy whore.” In texts to actor Paul Bettany, he wrote, “Let’s burn Amber… Let’s drown her before we burn her!!! I will fuck her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead.” - Johnny Depp Ends Testimony: Key Moments From His Four Days on the Stand

In text messages to friends, Johnny Depp fantasized about murdering his then-wife, the actress Amber Heard. “I will fuck her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead,” Depp wrote. In other texts, he disparaged his wife’s body in luridly misogynist terms. “Mushy pointless dangling overused floppy fish market,” he called her .... - The Amber Heard-Johnny Depp trial was an orgy of misogyny

More: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/02/opinion/amber-heard-johnny-depp-verdict.html">The Amber Heard Verdict Was a Travesty. Others Will Follow