The difference between the legislatures we want and the legislatures we have was blatantly illustrated this week by the State of Tennessee as a majority of aging GOP legislators, whose existence is dependent on the serious application of gerrymandering, kicked out two legitimately elected young black Democrats who were demonstrating against gun control.
What’s really interesting is that the two legislators, Justin Pearson and Justin Jones had not been demonstrating alone; had in fact been in the company of a third legislator, blonde and white Gloria Johnson who, was not kicked out of the Tennessee House. Surprise!
Now, how the hell do you think that happened? Could it be that the old Southern trash couldn’t bring themselves to insult a white woman but had no trouble with a couple of black men? Could it be anything else? And these two guys are probably the most well- spoken legislators in the entire Tennessee House. But that’s not the bottom line. The fact is, if Tennessee is like almost every other state in the union on the matter of guns, the people of the state agree with Pearson and Jones, not with the GOP majority of legislators. Look what happened in Kansas. It’s going to happen all over the country if the legislation is presented correctly at the next election. The majority of Americans want serious regulation of the weapons that are killing their children. It’s time they show their legislators that if they don’t get it for them, they will find others who will.
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Trump lawyer James Trusty, who is handling the purloined documents case at Mar-a-Lago, walked into one with his eyes wide open this weekend when Chuck Todd mentioned that the reason for Trump’s retention of the documents could be the $18 million that Nixon got for a like haul. Trusty was quick to label Todd’s comments a cheap shot and that’s where the Genie jumped out of the bottle. Because there is no greater cheap shot artist on the planet than Donald Trump. He may not have invented the concept, but he has surely perfected it with attacks on wounded military heroes, political opponents, and just about anyone who disagrees with him. Trump is the cheap shot master, and like most of his ilk, just isn’t able to master the defense necessary to go with it.
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Trusty and Todd had a nice little tit-for tat. Two smart guys going at it with both making points. But that doesn’t change the fact that Trump has been a cheap crook and con man since he was a kid.
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The recent meetings between American politicians and Taiwanese leaders have set China’s pants on fire. The result has been a show of force by the mainland in the form of air sorties and the turning out of the entire Chinese navy to surround that island. This military threat, albeit ineffectual, serves to remind all that it was China’s betrayal of its agreements with Hong Kong that have Taiwan backing away from any agreements with Xi Jinping.
Anyone who has ever done business with the Chinese knows the dangers of taking them at their word. It’s just a difference in cultural approach to the concept of agreement. The Chinese believe in a more fluid sense of the word “deal” than we do.
Right now, the most important element in any negotiation with China over Taiwan is the progress of the war in Ukraine. If Putin wins that war it will announce to Xi that he can go into Taiwan. However, if Putin is routed,
Xi will see that we can do the same in Taiwan and that will keep him at bay for a significant period. There is no way Xi will even consider attacking Taiwan if we have already overseen the defeat of Putin in Ukraine. At that point we would be far too powerful to push out of the South China Sea.
The fact that the Japanese prime minister has already visited Zelenskyy and offered support only strengthens the case against a Chinese invasion.
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Clarence Thomas, our most disgraceful Supreme Court Judge, has suddenly discovered that it’s a proprietary violation to accept stuff like free trips and vacations from a billionaire GOP donor. Can you imagine how surprised Clarence was to find this out? We always knew he was the dumbest judge on the court and the horniest, but he finally decided to prove it. After years of doing everything, Antonin Scalia told him to do, and never offering an opinion of his own, Clarence was left opinionless when Scalia died. Luckily Judge Alito stepped in to tell him what to say, but that hasn’t made him any smarter or any more honest.
I grew up with a great deal of respect for the Court. Sure, when I got interested in politics, I realized that I disagreed with many decisions made by members of the court, but I never thought of them as dishonest in the way I do now.
How can one have any respect for a member of a religious cult who has sworn to obey her leader in all things, or what about an accused rapist who has never gotten out from under those accusations?
Thomas and his wife have been involved in so much claptrap that it’s hard to give him any credence, even as a judge at a hot dog eating contest.
I think it’s time that we take a long look at how SCOTUS judges are appointed. I think they should serve no more than ten years and should be picked not by the President but by a panel of other judges who have some idea of who is doing a good job and who might be an asset to the Court.
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The Kevin McCarthy mess or “how I sold the last hunk of my soul to Marjorie Taylor Greene,” has now reached epic proportions. Those five House members that weren’t going to vote for Kevin eventually reached ten, and it is written in stone that because of the promises he made to get the votes he needed, he will not be able to hold the office for more than a year.
Steve Scalise looked like the choice, but he didn’t want to take a chance on getting shot again so the whole thing looks like a Manchurian cluster fuck.
I’m sure McCarthy wouldn’t be having this much trouble if he had some kind of plan to help the American people out of at least some of the problems they now face, but he is so intent on going after Hunter Biden that he has absolutely no functional plan of what to do with the office now that he has it.
McCarthy is looking to destroy any functional approach to immigration, end social security, block any improvements to Medicare or Obamacare, and generally stop any legislation that will help the majority of the American people. All this is in opposition to the wants of the American people. This makes one wonder if the GOP has as their goal to fail in yet another election.