Good Day, Gnuville! Another bonkers week in this wild world of ours. We are all still on indictment watch, so let’s see what today brings.
Meanwhile, I have brought you some news, mixed with the items that I had managed to assemble into a rough draft last week before the great outage. CG’s intro is last week’s intro FYI. Right now, she is tired of waiting for the indictments that TFG said would happen Tuesd--….wait a minute! TFG is a liar! He lies all the time! So, maybe it was a lie about indictments on Tuesday. Hmmm...maaaybeee the DOJ and the NYAG and the Special Prosecutor are working on their own timelines and not TFG’s! We are all pretty impatient over here, but we’d rather the various entities considering indictments have every t crossed and every i dotted first. (It’s hard to wait, though!)
And here is last week’s opening statement from me (including the opening song which is still pertinent!):
March 15 draft: Good Day, Gnusies! PHEW! There’s been a lot of ‘website down’ excitement around here over the past 24 hours. I don’t even know if I am going to be able to get this diary put together or posted tomorrow morning, but I’m going to give it a darn good try!
Because the site keeps going down while I am trying to write, I am going to just load up the stories first and hope for the best. If I can add my own text, I will do so. But FYI I am running out of time as the downtime drags on.
Anyway, let’s get to the news!
But first, a song, just because it was playing in my head for some unknown reason...😇:
⚖️ Legal News ⚖️
Let’s begin with news about court cases and lawsuits!
Loser TFG Loses AGAIN
Judge slaps down Trump's efforts to delay NY AG's fraud lawsuit, Brad Reed, Raw Story, March 21, 2023.
Former President Donald Trump has lost in court yet again.
Law and Crime News reported Tuesday that Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron brushed off Trump's request to delay the upcoming civil fraud trial against the Trump Organization for allegedly committing years' worth of financial crimes.✂️
Trump and his legal team have repeatedly tried to use stall tactics to delay legal proceedings, and Engoron had previously indicated that he was reluctant to move the trial date.✂️
The judge informed Trump's attorneys that the trial date was "written in stone" and would not agree to their request.
Additionally, the judge fired off a couple of warning shots against the defense over tactics they might employ and said he would not put up with them arguing that "everyone was doing it” and “those parties could reach their own conclusions” when it came to justifying the Trump Organization allegedly defrauding banks.
Trump White House lawyer: Indictment is 'imminent', Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, March 14, 2023.
"I do think an indictment is imminent based on the recent reporting and the grand jury activity," said Cobb. However, he continued, "I'm not sure this is the best case to lead with. I'm not sure it will have that great an impact on him. But yes, I do — I do hear the president and [Trump attorney] Joe [Tacopina] talking about the president as the alleged victim here, and that's — that's Trump at his best."✂️
"I don't believe that this case, or even the Georgia case, however that turns out, whether charges are brought, whether they include him, will deter him from his run," said Cobb. "I'm not sure either would have a lot of impact as the — as the consequences certainly the New York case, while a little bit hard to estimate, don't appear to be very serious. I think it's highly unlikely, you know, he could go to jail in connection with contemplated charges in New York. I do think when the federal government comes forward with what I believe will be an indictment over the obstruction of the January 6 proceeding involving Vice President Pence, and quite likely a defrauding the United States charge as well, I do think that will have political consequences for him. It will freeze his donors. You know, there are many passionate supporters out there and people willing to ride with him for a while. But at that point, he'll be asking for so much money that there will be a lot of checks and balances on the donor side I think will halt his ability to raise funds."
Oh, and what’s this CNN? You say Tacopina (the lawyer mentioned in the quote above from last week) is now in hot water over undisclosed communications? Exclusive: Communications between Stormy Daniels and Trump attorney turned over to Manhattan DA? Looks like the good guys are smart, too! It takes time to capture and indict people like this because they’ve been criminals for a long time and will pull every stunt they know to evade justice. I think the good guys have this — even if it’s not going as quickly as people would like.
The Dominion lawsuit against FOX is getting messy(er)
Looks like FOX is having trouble keeping its employees in line, and that’s going to make it increasingly difficult for them to get away with lying and obfuscation in the Dominion lawsuit. Not only that, this latest development may point to legal exposure for FOX attorneys as well. As some wit pointed out ages ago, MAGA might very well be an acronym for “making attorneys get attorneys”:
Producer sues Fox News, alleging she's being set up for blame in $1.6 billion suit, David Folkenflik, NPR, March 21, 2023.
A senior producer for primetime star Tucker Carlson sued Fox News on Monday, alleging the network was setting her and other female colleagues up as scapegoats in the $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit it faces over the lies it broadcast following the 2020 presidential elections.✂️
In her lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan, Grossberg slams the Fox News attorneys who prepared her for that deposition. The lawsuit says Grossberg left prep sessions believing she should give evasive answers when questioned and avoid talking about what she felt was a lack of staffing and support on Bartiromo's show.
"Ms. Grossberg left the deposition preparation sessions without knowing that by giving such false/misleading and evasive answers like the ones Fox's legal team reacted to positively to during the prep sessions, she not only opened herself up to civil and criminal liability for perjury, but was subtly shifting all responsibility for the alleged defamation against Dominion onto her shoulders, and by implication, those of her trusted female colleague, Ms. Bartiromo, rather than the mostly male higher ups at Fox News who endorsed the repeated coverage of the lies against the Dominion," Grossberg's lawsuit filed in federal court states. (The New York Times reports Grossberg also filed suit in state court in Delaware.)✂️
Before Grossberg filed suit, Fox News had filed one against her, in hopes that she would not reveal publicly what it asserts is confidential information related to the Dominion lawsuit.
Oh, and looky here! About an hour after I put the story above in this diary, THIS story popped up!
Fox News Gives Up on Silencing Tucker Producer Suing Them, Lachlan Cartwright and Justin Baragona, Daily Beast, March 21, 2023.
A day after Fox News filed a complaint with the Supreme Court of New York to silence a Tucker Carlson producer currently suing the network, the conservative cable giant pulled an about-face on Tuesday.
“PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that… Plaintiff Fox News Network,LLC, hereby discontinues this proceeding, without prejudice, and without costs to any party,” Fox lawyers stated in a notice of discontinuance filed on Tuesday in the same court.✂️
After Fox News pulled its complaint on Tuesday, Grossberg’s lawyers Parisis G. Filippatos and Tanvir H. Rahman said in a statement to The Daily Beast: “While our office was fully prepared and ready to argue to the New York Supreme Court why Fox News’s baseless and retaliatory lawsuit seeking to restrain Ms. Grossberg from speaking out about her abhorrent experiences at the Network was frivolous, Fox News wisely decided to give up on its clearly meritless claims against Ms. Grossberg. We remain ready and eager to vindicate Fox News’s blatant and repeated violation of Ms. Grossberg’s rights, including her right to not be baselessly sued in retaliation for complaining about unlawful conduct, in the Southern District of New York and in Delaware Superior Court.”
Fox News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Legal experts: "Damning evidence" in Dominion case threatens Fox as court greenlights second lawsuit, Areeba Shah, Salon, March 14, 2023.
Voting technology company Smartmatic sued Fox News and its anchors in February 2021 for falsely accusing the company of helping rig the 2020 presidential election to favor President Joe Biden over former President Donald Trump. Last week, the New York Supreme Court in Manhattan gave the green light for the case to proceed against Fox News, its anchors, and former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Smartmatic is seeking $2.7 billion in damages, claiming Fox News, anchor Maria Bartiromo and ex-host Lou Dobbs knowingly lied about the company in an effort to boost ratings and keep Trump supporters from turning to other right-wing networks.✂️
"Much of the most damning evidence surfaced in Dominion's case is now in the public domain and will be both relevant and admissible against Fox News in Smartmatic's case because it will help establish the reckless indifference to truth (or worse) on the part of the defendants and will help Smartmatic prove that Fox News had a business model that deliberately suppressed facts whose broadcast seemed likely to displease its audience, reduce its market share, and thus cut into the advertising revenues that keep its profits high," longtime Harvard Constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe told Salon.
Sleeper case on reproductive rights/autonomy
The headline points to what reporters thought was newsworthy about this case. The use of slavery era law to decide this case is indeed disgusting. But, I find another aspect of this case interesting and potentially precedent-setting (whenever the judge renders his opinion on it):
Judge uses a slavery law to rule frozen embryos are property, Matthew Barakat, AP, March 9, 2023.
Jason Heidemann’s lawyers said allowing his ex-wife to implant the embryos they created when they were married “would force Mr. Heidemann to procreate against his wishes and therefore violate his constitutional right to procreational autonomy.”
Honeyhline Heidemann’s lawyer, Kronfeld, argued that Honeyhline’s right to the embryos outweighs her ex-husband’s objections, partly because he would have no legal obligations to be their parent and partly because she has no other options to conceive biological children after undergoing cancer treatments that made her infertile.
Kronfeld also argued that the initial separation agreement the couple signed in 2018 already treated the embryos as property when they concurred — under a subheading titled “Division of Personal Property” — that the embryos would remain in cryogenic storage until a court ordered otherwise.
Gardiner has not yet ruled on the argument over Jason Heidemann’s procreational autonomy.
This man is asserting a constitutional right to “procreational autonomy” and demanding that he not be forced to become a father against his will — even though he apparently willingly created the embryos in the past. This case is just about as close to a mirror image to what happens to women who are made pregnant after consenting to sex, but not to pregnancy. In many states, women are treated as if they have no right to consent to sex without automatically consenting to pregnancy (if a pregnancy occurs), so it will be interesting to see how this case goes when it is a man who wants to decline fatherhood after willingly participating in conception (and not just sex, but deliberate, intentional conception). As Rachel Maddow would say, stick a pin in this one!
Meanwhile in Oklahoma — a little good news
Oklahoma Supreme Court Allows Life-Saving Abortions, Alec Karem, Daily Beast, March 21, 2023. (includes link to original story in the Oklahoman).
The Oklahoma constitution protects access to life-saving abortions, the state’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday. The court’s ruling also struck down a law passed by the Oklahoma legislature that criminalized abortions. In the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned, Oklahoma legislators passed an almost-total abortion ban except in cases of a “medical emergency.” In its ruling, the court stated: “We know of no other law that requires one to wait until there is an actual medical emergency in order to receive treatment when the harmful condition is known or probable to occur in the future,” increasing health-related abortion protections. The ruling doesn’t reinstate the right to an “elective” abortion for Oklahomans, but allows for legal abortions in the case of a “reasonable degree of medical certainty or probability” that the pregnancy is unsafe or could end the mother’s life.
🚚💙 Democrats Deliver 💙🚚
Illinois Democrats Deliver
Durbin, Duckworth send 2 names to Biden for new U.S. attorney; first non-white male contenders, Lynn Sweet, Chicago Sun Times, March 20, 2023.
WASHINGTON — To fill the vacant U.S. attorney spot in Chicago — a position so far held only by white males — Sens. Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth on Monday sent President Joe Biden the names of two former federal prosecutors they recommended. If either ends up being confirmed it would be the first time a Hispanic or a woman held the job.
Durbin, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Duckworth, both Democrats, said the two names being sent to the White House to fill the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois slot are Sergio Acosta and April Perry.
Also on Monday, the Biden White House announced the president intends to nominate Jeremy Daniel, a current federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois, to a spot on the U.S. District Court based in Chicago.
Acosta, Perry and Daniel, who is Black, all are the results of the push by Biden and Durbin to break the hold white males have had on the federal judiciary and the top prosecutor spots since our nation was founded. All three were vetted by a screening committee the senators created to determine the qualifications of applicants for these federal jobs.
REALLY! We have really good Democratic representatives and senators. They have really good ideas and they are working really hard to improve Americans’ lives. Look at the kind of ideas, leadership and action one of our Illinois representatives is bringing to the Peoples’ House (I encourage you to go read the whole essay at the link (no paywall) as it lays out precisely how and why our present day democracy is so flawed — a real eye-opener stated plainly) Respecting fair use, I will only quote his own suggestions:
Our democracy is broken. Here’s how we can fix It, Rep. Sean Casten( D-IL), Chicago Sun-Times, March 20, 2023.
First, I’ve introduced a constitutional amendment to add 12 national at-large senators, to be elected via ranked choice voting. This creates a bloc of senators directly accountable to the will of the American people. The bill would also add 12 national electors to the Electoral College who would vote based on the national popular vote to reduce the odds of the winner of the popular vote losing in the College.
Second, I’ve introduced legislation to expand the House of Representatives by requiring that future increases in population require an increase in representatives. For context, the population of the United States has increased by roughly 3½ times since the House was last expanded in 1911, meaning the population of congressional districts have increased similarly.
Had this proposal been in force during the 2020 census, we would have added roughly 130 members to the House.
Finally, we need to realign the Supreme Court to its original Article III responsibilities.
Article III of the Constitution outlines that the court is responsible for matters relating to ambassadors, those in which the State is a party, and in such appellate jurisdictions as allowed by Congress.
In recent years, we have seen an intentional effort by groups whose interests are opposed to the public will to take control of the courts.
Congress can fix this by asserting its authority under Article III to limit the Supreme Court’s appellate power. I’ve introduced a bill to do that and shift the bulk of our appellate decisions to a 13-judge panel, selected at random from our nation’s circuit courts.
The photo above shows Rep. Sean Casten and Rep Mike Quigley standing behind him. I had occasion to turn to Rep. Quigley’s office for help with a problem I had been trying to solve on behalf of an elderly relative for literally months, to no avail. His staff showed me how to solve the problem within two days! That’s helpful representation! That’s another one of the ways that Democrats deliver! ☺️💙
Joe Biden to unveil executive order to crack down on law-breaking gun sellers, David Smith, the Guardian, March 14, 2023.
Joe Biden will announce on Tuesday that he is ordering the attorney general, Merrick Garland, to crack down on gun sellers who break the law, “moving the US as close to universal background checks as possible”, the White House said.✂️
The administration argues that this will mean fewer guns sold without background checks and therefore fewer guns ending up in the hands of criminals and domestic abusers. Garland will also devise a plan to stop gun dealers whose licenses have been revoked or surrendered from continuing to trade.
There will be an effort to hold the gun industry accountable by naming and shaming federally licensed firearms dealers who are violating the law. Garland will release Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives records from the inspection of firearms dealers cited for breaking laws.
The executive order also aims to boost public awareness of “red-flag” lawsthat allow individuals to petition a court to allow police to confiscate weapons from a person adjudged dangerous to themselves or others.
SCOTUS may scrap Biden’s big student loan plan, but we’ve still got this Dem backup plan
A New Federal Student Loan Program Will Move Millions Toward Forgiveness, Anne Carrns, New York Times, March 19, 2023.
It’s unclear whether President Biden’s student loan cancellation plan will survive a legal challenge now before the Supreme Court, but a different federal program may still offer relief to many borrowers. Some are already seeing relief under the program, and the government just extended a key deadline for some borrowers who must take special steps to qualify.
The help will come as a one-time adjustment to accounts of borrowers, some of whom have been making payments for decades. The adjustment will revise their accounts so that more of their payments will count toward the required number of payments needed to qualify for loan forgiveness.
The adjustment may benefit millions of borrowers, eliminating outstanding balances for some and moving many others closer to forgiveness of their remaining debt, the Education Department said when it announced the plan almost a year ago.
EPA sets ‘groundbreaking’ limits on toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in drinking water, Tom Perkins, the Guardian, March 14, 2023.
The US Environmental Protection Agency has taken the extraordinary step of setting legal drinking water limits for six of the most studied and toxic PFAS compounds, known commonly as “forever chemicals”, that are at the center of an ongoing environmental crisis.
The new limits mark the first time in 26 years that the EPA has set legal limits for a contaminant in drinking water. Municipal utilities will be required to remove the compounds from drinking water, which could set off a wave of lawsuits directed at PFAS polluters, including the US military and chemical producers like 3M, DuPont and Chemours.
The new rules are “groundbreaking”, said Erik Olson, senior strategic director for the Natural Resources Defense Council non-profit, which tracks PFAS pollution.
Governors To Pharmacies: Please Clarify Your Abortion Pill Plans Using Actual Science, Alanna Vagianos, HuffPost, March 14, 2023.
Major pharmacies, including Walgreens and CVS, are at the center of a heated battle over abortion pills in the U.S. ― and the latest salvo comes from 14 Democratic governors calling on pharmacies to clarify their plans to dispense mifepristone, one of the two drugs used for medication abortion.✂️
The letter, addressed to seven major pharmacies in the U.S., is signed by a list of governors including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper and Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers. It was written by the Reproductive Freedom Alliance, a nonpartisan coalition of 21 governors committed to protecting reproductive rights in their states.
“As companies that dispense critical, life-saving medications, we urge that your decisions continue to be guided by well-established science and medical evidence and a commitment to the health and well-being of patients ― not politics or litigation threats,” the letter says. “The impact to people’s health and lives is too great to do otherwise.” (Scroll down to read the letter in full.)
Five days paid leave guaranteed for Illinois workers under law signed by Pritzker, Nike Schoonover, Chicago Sun Times, March 14, 2023.
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, workers will begin to earn paid leave on their first day at a rate of one hour of leave for every 40 hours worked, up to 40 hours of paid leave for the year. Employees can begin using their paid leave either 90 days after their employment begins or 90 days after the act’s effective date.
Employers are free to offer more than 40 hours.
“Today we will become the third state in the nation to require paid time off and the first among the largest states,” Pritzker said at a bill-signing ceremony in Chicago. “I’m exceptionally proud that labor and business came together to recognize the value of this requirement to employees and employers alike.”✂️
Ultimately, the measure received a few Republican votes in the House but passed the Senate with only Democratic support.
Arizona Dems turn the tables on Kari Lake, Gideon Rubin, Raw Story, March 14, 2023.
Hobbs and Fontes are seeking court sanctions for failed gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake and her attorneys, Arizona Mirror reports.
Fuentes told the Arizona Supreme Court earlier this week that Lake and her attorneys “continue to malign and erode the foundations upon which our great state stands,” the report said.✂️
“We cannot allow a disgruntled vocal minority to weaponize our Courts, sow unfounded distrust in our election processes, malign our public servants, and undermine our democracy – all for the purpose of trying to overturn the People’s will and topple an election.”
Thanks, Joe Biden!
FACT SHEET: President Biden Urges Congressional Action to Strengthen Accountability for Senior Bank Executives,
when banks fail because of mismanagement and excessive risk taking, it should be easier for regulators to claw back compensation from executives, to impose civil penalties, and to ban executives from working in the banking industry again.
The President is calling on Congress to:
Expand the FDIC’s authority to claw back compensation – including gains from stock sales – from executives at failed banks like Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank
Strengthen the FDIC’s authority to bar executives from holding jobs in the banking industry when their banks enter receivership
Expand the FDIC’s authority to bring fines against executives of failed banks
Statement from President Joe Biden on Top Three Insulin Producers Lowering Prices
As of this afternoon, all three of the leading insulin producers in America have agreed to substantially reduce their prices, following my calls to expand my $35 cap for seniors to all Americans. Sanofi is the latest company to recognize that charging hundreds of dollars for insulin that costs $10 to produce is just wrong, especially when the lives of so many children, parents, and grandparents depend on it.
My administration is working every day to bring working people and families more breathing room, and we won’t stop. Congress should still pass legislation to ensure everybody can get insulin for no more than $35 per month, along with a Junk Fee Prevention Act, and legislation to make childcare more affordable and accessible.✂️
Where Congress won’t work with me, I will continue to speak out and act on my own, just as I have to give millions of families life-changing breathing room on insulin costs. After the strongest two years of job growth and new small business applications in history, and with real progress against the inflation affecting countries around the world, I am more optimistic than ever that America’s best days are ahead.
Keep your 👁 on M👁SS👁SS👁PP👁
This Populist Democrat (and Distant Cousin of Elvis) Could Become Mississippi’s Next Governor, William Browning, The New Republic, March 10, 2023.
Brandon Presley seems to have all the makings of a formidable candidate for governor in deep-red Mississippi. The 45-year-old is a lifelong resident (and former mayor) of the tiny town of Nettleton, with a deep Southern drawl to show for it. He’s ardently anti-abortion. He knows hard times: When he was 8 years old, his father was murdered, leaving his mother, a factory worker, to raise him alone. He already holds elected office, on the state’s utility regulatory commission. He even has a touch of celebrity, as a distant cousin to The King whose surname he shares.
There’s just one problem: Brandon Presley is a Democrat. Most years, that alone would be enough to disqualify him for consideration by a majority of voters. But 2023 is not shaping up to be a typical election year in Mississippi.
A January poll conducted by the Siena College Research Institute showed Tate Reeves, the politically hobbled 48-year-old Republican governor, leading Presley by just four points; 57 percent said they wanted “someone else” besides Reeves. A Tulchin Research poll last month instead put Presley in front by the same margin, leading the Cook Political Report to move its outlook for the race from “solid” Republican to “likely” Republican.
🤬😫 Republicans in Disarray 😡😭
They are in so much disarray!
Republicans Pretend to struggle over supporting TFG
3 guesses what they will choose 🙄 (they’ve shown us — repeatedly — who they are. It’s time for the media (and everyone else who still thinks there is actually any “choosing” left to be done) to believe them):
Possible Trump indictment forces another moment of choosing for GOP, Steve Peoples, Farnoush Amiri and Lisa Mascaro, AP, March 21, 2023.
Elected Republicans have wavered at times — whether it was Trump’s condemnation of John McCain’s war record, his racist attack against a Mexican-American judge, his sexually predatory language caught on video, his alleged extramarital affairs, his decision to side with Russian President Vladimir Putin over U.S. intelligence, his promotion of false allegations of election fraud and his incitement of a violent mob that threatened the lives of lawmakers in both parties.
But after almost eight years of near-constant scandal, Republicans have ultimately rallied behind Trump over and over and over again.
Now, on the eve of a new presidential campaign season, that loyalty is being tested anew as Trump prepares for the possibility that he may soon become the first former U.S. president charged with a crime. New York prosecutors are wrapping up their probe into whether Trump engaged in an illegal hush money scheme involving a porn actress.
“This is another moment — not just this indictment, but the others likely to follow — where Republicans have the opportunity to break with Trump,” said Sarah Longwell, a vocal Republican Trump critic and founder of the Republican Accountability Project. “If they fail to do so, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves when Trump is the nominee again.”
So far, at least, the vast majority of the Republican Party appears to have made its choice.
Alex Jones the voice of reason? 😂
Even Alex Jones Says Trump Went Too Far With Calls for MAGA Protests, Alec Karam, Daily Beast, March 21, 2023.
Alex Jones, whose reckless false-flag conspiracy theories cost him $1 billion, thinks Donald Trump has taken things a hair too far with his calls for protests amid his possible arrest. “I’ve got an issue with Trump on that,” Jones said on a podcast, before spreading a baseless conspiracy that the Jan. 6 riot was a “set up.” “It does look like he’s trying to use the public to push right up to the edge.” Jones went on to say the far-right should be “the opposite” of violent, while claiming people on the left are the violent ones. Fellow far-right podcaster Steven Crowder agreed with Jones, saying that Trump should call for peaceful protests—like he did on Jan. 6, apparently. “War, physical war is a very serious issue and it shouldn’t start in some riot,” Jones said. “He basically is lighting up a cigarette while he’s playing with gasoline.
TFG’s footsoldiers not rushing to “protest”
“I wish more people had shown up,” said Trump supporter Philippe Lejeune. 😥
MAGA protesters in Manhattan crowded out by anti-Trump rivals, Wesley Parnell, Politico, March 21, 2023.
NEW YORK – Demonstrators who want a Donald Trump indictment far outnumbered MAGA supporters Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where the former president is expected to be charged as early as Wednesday.
The pro-indictment protesters gathered in front of the building where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating Trump over a hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign.
“No one is above the law, ” the group of about 20 demonstrators chanted.✂️
Across the street from the anti-Trump rally, five supporters of the former president walked around holding signs including one that highlighted liberal billionaire George Soros support for Bragg, a common right-wing talking point. Trump has seized on a $500,000 donation to Bragg from a political action committee funded by Soros that was part of a nationwide effort to help elect progressive district attorneys.
Nobody likes mike pence
Turns out groveling and mealy-mouthed declarations of “Christian values” that you weakly permit to be flouted constantly without so much as a peep of protest impresses exactly zero people. But then again, Mike Pence is pretty much a walking zero:
Nobody Likes Mike Pence, McKay Coppins, the Atlantic, March 21, 2023.
When Pence was added to the ticket in 2016, his chief function was to vouch for Trump with mainstream Republicans, especially conservative Christian voters. Pence’s reputation as a devout evangelical gave him a certain moral credibility when he defended Trump amid scandal and outrage. He performed this task exceptionally well. Those adoring eyes, those fawning tributes, that slightly weird fixation on the breadth of his boss’s shoulders—nobody was better at playing the loyalist. And for a certain kind of voter, Pence’s loyalty provided assurance that Trump was worthy of continued support.
Pence had his own motives, as I reported in my profile. All of this vouching for Trump was supposed to buy Pence goodwill with the base and set him up for a future presidential run. ✂️
But in creating a permission structure for voters to excuse Trump’s defective character and flouting of religious values, Pence was unwittingly making himself irrelevant. In effect, he spent four years convincing conservative Christian voters that the very thing he had to offer them didn’t matter.
In 2011, a poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that only 30 percent of white evangelicals believed “an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life.” By 2020, that number had risento 68 percent.
Pence won the argument. Now he’s reaping the whirlwind.
Not Little Ron D, Either
Republicans will probably knock out all contenders for TFG’s title (as leading candidate), like so:
💥 Bam! 💥
DeSantis fails to stem hits from Trump world, Gary Fineout, Politico, March 21, 2023.
After getting pressure over the weekend from Trump allies, the Republican governor responded during a press conference to the prospect of Trump getting indicted by ripping into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. DeSantis called him a “Soros DA” — a reference to billionaire Democratic donor George Soros — who was part of a group of prosecutors who are a “menace to society” and ignore real issues around crime. That’s a line of criticism in the spirit of what many other Republican supporters of Trump have said.
But DeSantis also threw in references to adult film star Stormy Daniels, saying: “I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair.”
And then he said he was not — and would not be — “involved” in any extradition of the former president. “I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA,” he said. The governor added, “I’ve got real issues I’ve got to deal with here in the state of Florida.” As a side note: The governor would not be involved with extradition if Trump surrenders, but he could delay the proceedings if it’s contested.
Suffice to say, these comments did not assuage Trump world. Trump hit back, as did a host of other figures close to the former president, including his son Donald Trump Jr., who called DeSantis’ response “pure weakness.”
💥 Pow! 💥
Senate Republicans Rebuke DeSantis for Saying Ukraine Is Not a Vital U.S. Interest, Tori Otten, The New Republic, March 14, 2023.
Senate Republicans rebuked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Tuesday for saying that continuing to aid Ukraine to fight off the Russian invasion was not in the United States’ “vital national interests.”
The Republican Party has grown more divided in recent months over how long the U.S. should continue to send aid to Kyiv—and how much it should send. DeSantis, who is rumored to be considering a presidential run in 2024, made clear on which side of the debate he stands.✂️
Several prominent members of the Senate GOP were quick to condemn DeSantis’s remarks. Fellow Floridian Marco Rubio, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, argued that the U.S. does “have an interest” in assisting Ukraine because it provides another opportunity to be tougher on China.✂️
“I don’t know what he’s trying to do,” Rubio added. “Obviously, he doesn’t deal with foreign policy every day as governor.”
💥 Wham! 💥
Trump will 'wipe the floor' with DeSantis when it becomes a battle of personalities: Adam Kinzinger, Matthew Chapman, Raw Story, March 14, 2023.
"I think DeSantis' advantage right now is, he's kind of like anybody that's ready to move on from Trump, he kind of gives people an out like yeah, I'm going to own the libs, but it's time to move on from Trump," Kinzinger continued. "The problem is, I don't think that Ron DeSantis has the personality that Trump has, and as they go head to head, I really expect that Donald Trump will start wiping the floor with Ron DeSantis in terms of that."
"I think there's a real lane here for somebody that wants to be kind of a traditional conservative Republican, if you will, but unfortunately somebody like a Ron DeSantis is just trying to be Trump-lite," added Kinzinger.
💥 Womp Womp! 💥
💥 Slam! 💥
Ron DeSantis: Overrated, Ana Marie Cox, The New Republic, March 13, 2023.
Sure, the thinking goes, Trump’s presidency set the stage for a Republican nomination contest that looks to hinge on banning drag brunches and books, but Trump has been stuck in the wings squeezing out Truth Social posts for the past three years, while DeSantis’s stunts took Fox News’s center stage. Look at Ron go! He’s Trump “without the baggage.” He’s Trump “with a less crass delivery.” He’s “someone who gets them [Republicans] out of having to defend Trump.” He’s “Trump with brains” or, more modestly, “Trump with abrain.”
It’s a great argument if you think that today’s Republican voter—which is to say, a Trump voter—thinks that there’s anything wrong with Trump just how he is. You think they want a day off from defending Trump? Defending Trump is the entire GOP brand. Republicans sort both one another and their news (“news”) sources through a prism of Trumpiness. And as for DeSantis being the “smart Trump,” well, I’m not sure there’s anyone in the GOP base who actually asked for such a thing.
If you needed more proof that DeSantis is simply this cycle’s Scott Walker—or perhaps this cycle’s Tim Pawlenty—let’s reflect on some recent news: Jeb “Jeb!” Bush called him a model for “generational change” and said he hoped he’d run for president. Please clap?
🌍🌎International News 🌎🌏
Putin looks weak — because he is
Click on the blue bird link for the analysis.
Text: “If you're looking for the TL;DR on Xi's visit with Putin, it is this: China's domination of Russia is complete.”
🇮🇱 Netanyahu got way more than he bargained for when he over-reached. The people have been protesting for weeks. Now even the armed forces and Mossad are not going to back him. It’s only a matter of time before he is once again out of office — and I predict for good this time:
Text: “Hard to overstate just how quickly Netanyahu has become persona non grata within Israel's security establishment. All who have worked with him in top positions-from IDF chiefs of staff, Shin Bet and Mossad, to nuclear program, to elite combatants-name him as Israel's No.1 threat.”
Health and Wellbeing
How to shop for new insurance if you lose Medicaid coverage, Tom Murphy, AP, March 19, 2023.
At the start of the pandemic, the federal government prohibited states from kicking people off Medicaid if they were no longer eligible. That ban ends this spring, and many people on Medicaid will be introduced to this so-called redetermination process for the first time.✂️
State-based health insurance marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act are the only places where people can buy individual insurance with help from an income-based subsidy. They can be found through the federal government’s healthcare.gov website.✂️
The cost of any new plan should be one of the first things people consider. Shoppers can get income-based subsidies to help pay monthly premiums of plans they buy on the state-based marketplaces. Those subsidies were enhanced during the pandemic.✂️
“A very large percentage of people can qualify for a plan starting at $0 per month,” he said.✂️
Make sure your state program has your current contact information, including a mailing address plus email and cellphone. They will send notifications if they need more information or if someone no longer qualifies for Medicaid.
“Everyone should do that before April,” said said Joshua Brooker, an independent broker based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. “It’s going to make a smoother transition.”
Start shopping for new insurance before Medicaid ends. Shoppers should allow plenty of time to sort through options.
Perspective — and a gift article
Our emotional wellbeing is at least as important as our physical wellbeing, and this article offers a different perspective on the climate crisis that invites readers to consider that we can actually improve life as a result of coping with climate change. Go read the whole thing! No paywall!
Opinion What if climate change meant not doom — but abundance? Rebecca Soling, Washington Post, March 19, 2023.
Much of the reluctance to do what climate change requires comes from the assumption that it means trading abundance for austerity, and trading all our stuff and conveniences for less stuff, less convenience. But what if it meant giving up things we’re well rid of, from deadly emissions to nagging feelings of doom and complicity in destruction? What if the austerity is how we live now — and the abundance could be what is to come?✂️
What if we imagined “wealth” consisting not of the money we stuff into banks or the fossil-fuel-derived goods we pile up, but of joy, beauty, friendship, community, closeness to flourishing nature, to good food produced without abuse of labor? What if we were to think of wealth as security in our environments and societies, and as confidence in a viable future?✂️
For so many of us, being busy with work has leached away our capacity to pursue true riches. What if we were to prioritize reclaiming our time— to fret less about getting and spending — and instead “spend” this precious resource on creative pursuits, on adventure and learning, on building stronger societies and being better citizens, on caring for the people (and other species and places) we love, on taking care of ourselves?
Chew slowly, keep moving and eat 30 plants a week: 12 rules for gut health, Emine Saner, the Guardian, March 19, 2023.
When we think about gut health, we tend to focus on food. “Food is just one part of it, and I think people either engage in food-blaming, or think they need to eat all these expensive things,” says nutritional therapist Eve Kalinik. “But actually, there are other things, such as sleep, exercise and how we’re eating, that are just as important.” The good news is they’re easy, low cost, and you can start right away. Here, then, are 12 expert tips on how to get and maintain good gut health.
Eat at least 30 different plants a week
Choose powerful polyphenols (eg. coffee, green tea, broccoli, EVOO, herbs and spices)
Get enough fibre
Get probiotics from fermented foods
Take time to eat
Get moving
(there is much more in the article, I am just posting half the list and none of the explanations — go read it! 😄)
🌱🔌 Environment and Energy 🌱🔌
My dream is starting to come true! Thanks to the Biden Infrastructure investments which provided the bulk of the money in federal grants for these expansions, new services that just 2 years ago were declared “never going to happen” are, in fact, happening!
As Amtrak expands service, replaces cars, riders have high hopes, Ilana Arougheti, Chicago Sun Times, March 21, 2023.
Chicago, already the largest railroad hub city in America, is also set to benefit from several planned expansions and equipment upgrades that have been years in the making.
Among them: a second daily train to Minneapolis-St. Paul, new train cars for Midwest routes, plus new coaches and sleepers for long-haul routes, as Amtrak retires some of its 40-year-old fleet.
For now, plans call for the new Twin Cities train, tentatively named the Great River Rail, to depart Chicago around 11:00 a.m., arriving in St. Paul at 6:15 p.m.. The new eastbound would depart St. Paul around 11:45 a.m., arriving in Chicago about 7:15 p.m.✂️
Though Amtrak has not set a final start date, service will begin in 2024, or possibly even later this year, said Amtrak spokesperson Mark Magliari.✂️
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation expects about 124,000 passengers to make the new round trip in its first year.✂️
This year’s expansions are part of Amtrak Connects Us, a plan calling for increased service in 160 markets nationwide.
Thanks, Joe Biden!
LATE ADDITION! Thanks, T Maysle
This article is really smart, full of science and starts and links and useful suggestions for effective action. I can’t even begin to do it justice in a quote, so go read it!
We need the right kind of climate optimism, Hannah Ritchie, Vox, March 21, 2023.
I don’t want to talk about whether pessimism is accurate. I want to focus on whether it’s useful. People might defend doomsday scenarios as the wake-up call that society needs. If they’re exaggerated, so what? They might be the crucial catalyst that gets us to act on climate change.
Setting aside the moral problem of stretching the truth, this claim is wrong. Scaring people into action doesn’t work. That’s true not just for climate change, air pollution, and biodiversity loss, but for almost any issue we can think of. We need optimism to make progress — yet that alone isn’t enough. To contend with environmental crises and make life better for everyone, we need the right kind of optimists: those who recognize that the world will only improve if we fight for it.✂️
What unchangeable pessimists feel is paralyzing anxiety. That’s a horrible place to be in emotionally, but it’s also an ineffective one. It prevents people from actually going out and doing things to mitigate climate change.✂️
As my colleague Max Roser has put it: “The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better.” All three statements are true. We can acknowledge the progress that we’ve made but remain dissatisfied that we haven’t made more.
💙 CG’s Picks 💙
Hello Everybody! It’s me, Curlygirly! Boy, has it ever been a hectic time around here! Mama was trying to gather news and trying to make this diary (last week) and everything kept going oopsy-daisy and then there would be bad words (not from me... from you know who — not me!). Anyway, I still found some stuff to show you so here goes!
🦅 First a story about some birds that were struggling not to go extinct. And some snails that were invading the Everglades in Florida but who turned out to be good food for the birds! Maybe the birds will eat all the snails (so they can’t invade anymore) and then the old kind of snails can get lots of population again and then everything will go back to normal! Scientists are working on it right now!
In Florida, an invasive snail is helping save an endangered bird, Greg Allen, NPR, March 14, 2023.
MOORE HAVEN, Fla. — In Florida's Everglades, few species are more closely tied to the habitat's health than an endangered bird, the snail kite. The Everglade snail kite is a raptor, similar to a hawk, that eats just one thing: snails.
Over the last century, as much of the Everglades was drained, the bird's population declined precipitously. But the kite has bounced back recently thanks to an exotic snail. It's a rare case of an invasive species having a positive impact.
Robert Fletcher, a University of Florida professor who directs a snail kite monitoring program, says the invasive species was first spotted in 2004. Within a few years, it had expanded through much of the Everglades. "And it was around that time," he says, "that we started to see snail kite number increase."✂️
Efforts to restore Florida's Everglades have helped the snail kite, bringing back native vegetation and restoring the flow of water to once-parched marshes. It's been in the works for more than 30 years with a cost of more than $20 billion. But progress is incremental and hard to measure. In the meantime, scientists say the invasive snail may have saved the snail kite.
🦊 How foxes are domesticating themselves, Matthew Rozsa, Salon, June 9, 2020.
🐩 I think Mama might like to see a video of poodle puppies, don’t you? Would you like to see them? I DO!!
🐎 Would you like a video with baby horses? I would! This video is about a newborn Friesian horse only a few hours old who is VERY tired. And then you will see two mama horses and two older baby horses going out into the pasture for the babies’ first time! 😍
That’s about all I have for you today. I hope everyone has a nice day and maybe some indeye ...indi….indite...oh dear, I can’t remember the word! But, anyway, that thing that Mama says has been a long time a-coming! Yes, THAT — I hope that happens soon!
Bye for now! Luv, CG 💙🐾
⚡️ Lightning RoundUp ⚡️
⚡️ Just for fun: Your special spring equinox 2023 horoscope is here, Bryanna Collier, CBC Life, March 17, 2023.
⚡️ How to file your tax returns: 6 things you should know this year, Marielle Segarra, NPR, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Only up to a point: New study suggests that actually, money can buy you happiness, Theara Coleman, the Week, March 9, 2023.
⚡️ Poor, poor plutocrats: Silicon Valley’s Titans Are Realizing a Lot of People Really Don’t Like Them, Matt Ford, The New Republic, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Private opulence, public squalor: How the U.S. helps the rich and hurts the poor, Dave Davies, NPR, March 21, 2023.
⚡️ Fascinating: A Christian Chatbot Has Some Bad News For Republicans, Sarah Posner, Talking Points Memo, March 13, 2023.
⚡️ No kidding: This is no culture war: Republicans are waging a war on democracy, Chauncey DeVega, Salon, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ This title is off- the pictures are of the people protesting to defend democracy: 20 Striking Images of Israeli Democracy Under Siege, Mark Murrmann, Mother Jones, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War, David V Gloe, Foreign Policy, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ How to file your tax returns: 6 things you should know this year, Marielle Segarra, NPR, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Only up to a point: New study suggests that actually, money can buy you happiness, Theara Coleman, the Week, March 9, 2023.
⚡️ Poor, poor plutocrats: Silicon Valley’s Titans Are Realizing a Lot of People Really Don’t Like Them, Matt Ford, The New Republic, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Fascinating: A Christian Chatbot Has Some Bad News For Republicans, Sarah Posner, Talking Points Memo, March 13, 2023.
⚡️ No kidding: This is no culture war: Republicans are waging a war on democracy, Chauncey DeVega, Salon, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ This title is off- the pictures are of the people protesting to defend democracy: 20 Striking Images of Israeli Democracy Under Siege, Mark Murrmann, Mother Jones, March 14, 2023.
⚡️ Putin Is Trapped in the Sunk-Cost Fallacy of War, David V Gloe, Foreign Policy, March 14, 2023.
💗 How Can You Help Build Our Democracy Back Better? 💗
Put your beautiful bleeding liberal heart into it! 🥰
Democratic litigation hero, Marc Elias was the legal eagle behind the 60 Big Lie losses after the election. Here’s his website, Democracy Docket. You can find information about current cases he is fighting to defend voting rights around the country, as well as actions you can take to help fight voter suppression at the link!
Write to voters around the country with Postcards to Voters. Progressive Muse usually posts an update on current campaigns in the comments and you can also check out the website. It’s easy, fun and it really works to GOTV!
🎩 Also, Goody posted a great list of links and I am going to borrow it because it’s great! 🎩
Fight voter suppression!
What can you do?
HERE’S HOW TO CONTACT CONGRESS:
U.S. House of Representatives:* Telephone: 202-225-3121
* Website: http://www.house.gov/
U.S. Senate:* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your member of Congress and contact him or her:
Let them know what matters to you!
Contact your Representative
Contact your Senator
And remember, all politics is local and personal! Let’s work to flip state and local elected positions Democratic! ↓
Sister District Project — organization that is working to help Dems win state legislature races.
💙 RoundUp WindDown 💙
That’s it from me and CG for another Wednesday. It’s been a stressful week for so many of us, not the least because of all the tension around pending indictments.
So, please do your best to look after your mental and physical wellbeing. Get some rest, eat nutritious food and try to get outdoors every day if at all possible. It’s amazing how fresh air and a change of scene can help lift the spirits.
I’ll leave you with one last storm themed musical selection.
Happy Wednesday, Gnuville!