One of the notable things happening in the background of Dobbs decision shockwave is the furious effort of abortion rights opponents to play down the impact of the decision (odd when you’ve worked so long and hard) and explain why any efforts to reverse or overrule the decision are hopeless, insane, unconstitutional or just generally not worth thinking about.
Continue reading “Heads They Win, Tails We Lose”Your Fault! Paul And McConnell Squabble Over Implosion Of Biden’s GOP Judicial Nom
The collapse of President Joe Biden’s baffling plan to nominate longtime Republican Chad Meredith as a federal judge in Kentucky has left Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) in a standoff much like the Spider-Men pointing meme.
Continue reading “Your Fault! Paul And McConnell Squabble Over Implosion Of Biden’s GOP Judicial Nom”An Out And Proud Confederate Could Win GOP Nod For Maryland AG
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
No Like Actually
Meet Michael Peroutka, one of the two candidates on the ballot for Maryland attorney general in the state’s GOP primary today. As TPM alum Cameron Joseph reports for Vice, Peroutka was a board member for the neo-Confederate League of the South until 2014, believes public education is “the 10th plank in the Communist Manifesto,” and at one point he declared that he was “still angry” that Maryland wasn’t allowed to secede from the union during the Civil War.
- But don’t go calling Peroutka a neo-Confederate; there’s nothing “neo” about it, thank you very much! “If anything, I want to be just a true Confederate,” he said in 2014.
- Even to this day, Peroutka won’t say whether he supports the South seceding from the union, telling Vice only that he has “no comment” on the issue and that it’s up to the Southern states “to self-determine.”
- Peroutka’s beaten his establishment-backed primary rival, Jim Shalleck, in fundraising. The former has raised about $50,000 (including a $10,000 loan to himself), the latter a measly $10,000.
Trump Aides Who Resigned On Jan. 6 To Testify Thursday
Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser who resigned immediately after the Capitol attack, will be one of the witnesses at the House Jan. 6 Committee’s next (and potentially last) public hearing this Thursday, according to multiple outlets.
- Sarah Matthews, Trump’s deputy press secretary who also resigned on Jan. 6, will reportedly be testifying with Pottinger. One of the things she’ll talk about is the push by Trump staffers to get him to release a statement on Jan. 6, the New York Times reports.
- The hearing will examine what the committee called Trump’s “dereliction of duty” on Jan. 6 and what exactly he was up to as the violence unfolded at the Capitol.
Hice’s Turn To Get Subpoenaed By Georgia Grand Jury
A Georgia grand jury issued a subpoena to Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), the Trump loyalist and failed candidate for secretary of state, as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe into 2020 election interference. Hice is challenging the subpoena, which was issued last month, in federal court.
- Hice claimed that the subpoena violated the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause and the “high-ranking official” doctrine.
- A federal judge in Georgia scheduled a hearing for Hice’s challenge for this upcoming Monday. The subpoena had directed him to testify in front of the special grand jury today, but the GOP congressman’s filing stated that he and Willis’ office had come to an agreement that he wouldn’t have to testify while challenging the subpoena.
Biden Weighs Declaring Climate Emergency
The President is mulling declaring a national climate emergency, according to the Washington Post, now that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has tanked a deal over an already extremely watered-down Build Back Better redo that included some climate legislation.
- Meanwhile, these disturbing maps lay out just how extreme the heat waves in the U.S. and Europe have become (and have already killed or displaced thousands of people in Western Europe).
Abbott Skipped All Uvalde Victims’ Funerals
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) didn’t go to one funeral for the 21 victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting, according to his schedule, which said that his last visit to the city was on June 5.
- Then again, “many of the families didn’t want him there” anyway, Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D), who represents the city, said on Monday.
- This is what happened when Abbott visited the memorial at the school several days after the shooting:
Fauci Plans To Retire Before Biden’s First Term Is Up
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades, told CNN on Monday that he’s “very likely” to retire sometime before the end of Biden’s first term in January 2025. And really, can you blame the guy?
- “If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have COVID anymore,’ then I will be 105,’” Fauci had told Politico in an interview that came out earlier on Monday when asked about continuing with government work amid COVID-19.
- The 81-year-old Fauci has worked under seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.
Conspiracy Theory Of The Day
“Unhinged ‘Transvestigators’ Think They’re The Only Cis People Left” – MEL Magazine
It’s Gonna Take A Miracle
Arizona state House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) told NBC News that “it’s going to be a miracle” if he manages to get reelected in his state’s primary after testifying in one of the House Jan. 6 Committee’s public hearings last month.
LIVE with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Friend, Cat Turd!
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Pulitzer Board Rejects Trump’s Demand To Yank Prizes From Post And NYT
The board that administers Pulitzer Prizes denied former President Trump’s request to revoke the prizes that the Washington Post and the New York Times won in 2018 for their reports on the Trump campaign and his administration’s ties to Russian interference in the presidential election.
Continue reading “Pulitzer Board Rejects Trump’s Demand To Yank Prizes From Post And NYT”Where Things Stand: Anti-Abortion Group’s New Memo Highlights GOPers Squirming On Roe
In case you missed it, it’s worth looking at this memo that the big anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America sent to Republican lawmakers last week outlining messaging points and policy proposals for the party to push in the wake of Roe’s demise.
The messaging tight-rope they’re walking to avoid fully dancing on Roe’s grave remains interesting.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Anti-Abortion Group’s New Memo Highlights GOPers Squirming On Roe”Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on The Current Moment
We are in one of those moments where we are awash in debates over the failures of “the Democratic Party.” (I’ll explain the scare quotes in a moment.) It’s a conversation I enter with great ambivalence. Most of my commentary over the last twenty-odd years has been about trying to push Democrats to take more aggressive and forward-looking strategies for building political power, political coalitions and so forth. Indeed, I’ve been doing that for the last few months through my “Roe and Reform” crusade. But a huge amount of this debate is advanced by people who see the success of rightwing candidates as prima facie evidence of the failure of Democrats.
From one perspective, this is true. In a binary political system, for one side to win the other has to lose. But at a deeper level a lot of these people don’t want to accept or grapple with the fact that a lot of Americans really want rightist authoritarian government. It’s not just that Democrats didn’t run good enough candidates, or didn’t get behind Medicare for All or didn’t say clearly enough that they weren’t for Defund the Police. Disappointment with Democrats not being more progressive didn’t lead voters to embrace the right. A lot of people really want rightist authoritarian government.
Continue reading “Some Miscellaneous Thoughts on The Current Moment”Jody Hice Subpoenaed In Fulton County DA Probe Into Trump’s Election Steal Plot
A new court filing reveals that Fulton County district attorney Fani Willis subpoenaed Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) last month to appear before a special grand jury in the Fulton County investigation into former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the battleground state.
Continue reading “Jody Hice Subpoenaed In Fulton County DA Probe Into Trump’s Election Steal Plot”Pence And Ducey Clash With Trump On Another Key Guv Race
Former Vice President Mike Pence and Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who co-chairs the Republican Governors Association (RGA), are once again facing off against ex-President Donald Trump in a crucial gubernatorial primary — this time in Ducey’s backyard.
Continue reading “Pence And Ducey Clash With Trump On Another Key Guv Race”The List is Coming, Folks
We’ve spent a few weeks now piecing through various senators’ answer to the Roe and Reform question: will you vote for a Roe law and suspend the filibuster rules to allow it to get an up or down majority vote? We’ve seen or gotten answers for a number of senators — particularly ones whose positions seemed genuinely uncertain: Feinstein, Casey, et al. But now we’re at the point where we need to zero in on just who is where and specifically who is standing in the way of 48 senators all being on the record in support.
Continue reading “The List is Coming, Folks”Sanders Goes After Manchin For ‘Intentionally Sabotaging The President’s Agenda’
Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) latest torpedoing of a deal carefully negotiated within the Democratic caucus provoked Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-VT) very candid anger over the weekend.
Continue reading “Sanders Goes After Manchin For ‘Intentionally Sabotaging The President’s Agenda’”