Tuesday, October 27, 2020
444 Words ABOUT WHETHER MATTINGLY SHOULD BE MUZZLED
Friday, October 16, 2020
100 Words: The Threat Posed by Barrett To Our Survival
Recently I argued here for President Biden adding four new Supreme Court justices. As The NYTimes’ Paul Krugman puts it, “Never mind all the talk about norms (which only seem to apply to Democrats, anyway.) What’s at stake here could be the future of civilization.” He refers to a G.O.P.-stacked Supreme Court blocking effective climate policy, which will be at the core of a President Biden’s economic agenda. Right wing super bagman Charles Koch is investing millions in Barrett’s confirmation to create “a court that will block government regulation of business — and above all a court that will hamstring a Biden administration.”
Saturday, October 10, 2020
100 Words: Should Democrats seek to pack the Supreme Court?
If they do, what is to stop a future Republican majority from expanding — or shrinking — the courts in turn? The answer is nothing. That is the problem. While I agree that Republicans must pay a price for the dangerous risk they took with the country, we desperately need to preserve the stability of our wavering democratic institutions. Only in the direst circumstances should an act like packing the Supreme Court be contemplated. Alas, we are in such circumstances. A 6-3 Trump majority court will doom every effort to save us from climate change, economic ruin, and catastrophic injustice. “Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure,” Lincoln says in his Gettysburg Address. That’s where we are now, too. I say, in for a penny, in for a pound: add four justices to insure a 7-6 majority.
Friday, October 9, 2020
Hundreds Of Words: On Trump’s Latest Mad Rant
The blockhead-in-chief's latest Alice in Wonderland tirade against Kamala Harris (a communist, he fumes), Biden and Obama (indict them!), and his own AG (he's right about Barr, but for the wrong reasons) is a true testimonial as to the soon to be former president's mental state. Trump's lashing out at his other aides reminds me of the Queen of Hearts' gardeners:
“The Queen of Hearts wanted to have a red rose-tree ... but these poor little gardeners had made a great mistake, and had put in a white one instead: and they were so frightened about it, because the Queen was sure to be angry, and then she would order all their heads to be cut off!
She
was a dreadfully savage Queen, and that was the way she always did, when she
was angry with people. “Off with their head!” They didn’t really cut their
heads off, you know: because nobody ever obeyed her: but that was what she
always said.
Ed Wong (on Facebook)
Where
does Mitch fit in here?
I nominate the Mad Hatter for the role of Mitch McConnell. As
we all know (those of us who have Wikipedia anyway), Alice becomes a guest at a
"mad" tea party where many riddles and stories are given, including the famous "why is a raven like a writing desk?" When Alice gives up trying to figure out why, the
Hatter admits "I haven't the slightest idea!" I think this reflects
most of Mitch’s thinking on just about everything.
Also, the Hatter reveals that they have tea all day because Time has punished him by eternally standing still at
6 p.m. (tea time). This reflects Mitch’s political positions,
which belong back around 1850. Alice becomes insulted and tired of being
bombarded with riddles and she leaves claiming that it was the stupidest tea party
that she had ever been to. This would describe Mitch’s entire
tenure in the Senate, especially his attempts to justify the ways of god
(Trump) to man (us). A Mad Hatter if there ever was one.