dailykos--2020-09-19--Citizenship – Bridging Individualism & Community to Sustain our Democracy

Citizenship should support a democratic republic that protects individuals ’ freedoms and the community ’ s welfare .
We need it to avoid another civil war .
The U.S. stands out since its creation as championing the rights of all individuals , as proclaimed in the Declaration that Jefferson wrote for the new nation .
Always clever , Jefferson substituted “ pursuit of happiness ” for “ possessing property ” in order to cast a wider net .
Although initially those who did not own enough property , or were women or Jews , were deprived of the vote by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course , were not even considered citizens — they were someone else ’ s property .
Still , America ’ s revolution , which championed individual freedoms , can be seen as the spark in the U.S. for abolishing slavery and guaranteeing women the right to vote .
Today , defending individual freedom has been used to defend the “ right not to wear a mask , ” ignoring the fact that its absence may result in your fellow citizens being infected with the coronavirus .
Others claim the right to possess an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to kill people .
For some citizens , concern for the welfare of the larger community is too abstract a notion to compensate for losing such personal freedoms .
That is the tension between an individual ’ s freedom and the community ’ s welfare .
Progressive-Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal , in her book Use the Power You Have , coined the derisive term “ individual supremacy.
” It describes an attitude that “ rejects compassion in favor of fear of others , ” and pits “ individual needs versus what is best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ believes such a perspective “ stops us from thinking about the ways in which we are linked ” and the responsibility we have to each other to tackle big issues such as climate change .
Trump-Conservative Sean Hannity , Fox News ’ lead political commentator , attacks leftists in his book Live Free or Die , for “ decreeing what kind of straws you can drink from , what kind of lightbulbs you can use , and what kind of power your home can use.
” He does not see these individual acts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ harm to the larger community .
Such regulations that limit our behavior are unacceptable to him and others .
But Hannity does favor promoting our nation being built upon a community of Christians that require individuals to adopt their values .
He fondly quotes the book , The Light and the Glory : 1492-1793 ( God 's Plan for America ) in describing how our nation ’ s founders were “ chosen by God for a specific purpose : … rediscovering God ’ s plan to join them together by His Spirit in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” and to “ operate not as lone individualists , but in covenanted groups.
” The difference on how Jayapal and Hannity frame responsible individual rights to a larger community would seem to be unbreachable .
Nevertheless , some folks are leading an effort to redefine citizenship as a means to find some common ground between these opposing forces — before they are resolved on a battle ground , as happened in 1860 .
Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer , in Gardens of Democracy , identify the rise of a new citizenship @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the ideas that emerged from the Enlightenment .
They created a democratic republic separate from the confines of a single religion and church .
It substituted reason for doctrine , independence for obedience , scientific method for superstition , and human ambition for divine predestination .
Liu went on to give 19 speeches around the country promoting active citizenship , to rehumanize our politics and rekindle a spirit of love in civic life .
His book Become America : Civic Sermons on Love , Responsibility , and Democracy contains all of his sermons @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Institute for Public Life and Work at Augsburg University , argues in Awakening Democracy through Public Work that citizens should be seen as producers , not consumers .
He sees a need for a stronger , more participatory democratic society , which recalls the citizen-led effort of the Civil Rights Movement .
He goes beyond defining democracy as free elections and largely the activity of government .
That approach relies on selecting good political leaders who encourage broad citizen participation .
But when the nation ’ s highest elected leader divides citizens into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , there is a need for strong institutions and a culture of acceptance that can push our public officials to unite all citizens to work for the common welfare .
One such organization pursuing that endeavor is Braver Angels , formed primarily by academics and church leaders representing a grassroots movement to depolarize America ’ s politics .
Their board of directors , staff , workshop participants , and funding sources — all are balanced between liberals and conservatives .
They now have more than 11,000 members working in their project , With @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pledges not to “ hold hate ” toward others who vote differently .
A signer pledges “ to understand the concerns and aspirations of those who voted differently , ” to listen to the opposition rather than fear the opposition .
It ’ s an exercise in self-control that is particularly relevant to our presidential election , since they see evidence “ that we are now as polarized as we have been since the Civil War.
” Some of President Trump ’ s highest appointed public officials would agree .
They are preparing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ – of what ?
Losing the election ?
That appears to be the case with Michael Caputo , who handles communications for the Cabinet department in charge of combating the coronavirus .
He charged government scientists on Sun.
, Sept. 13 , of sedition ( a felony punishable up to 20 years in prison ) .
He further asserted that left-wing hit squads were preparing for armed insurrection after the election .
He made that charge after officials at the Centers for Disease Control told various media how Caputo demanded the agency revise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s public health updates that could imply that the pandemic is not under control .
Caputo sees a gun fight come January .
He posted on Facebook , “ when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration , the shooting will begin , ” and added , “ If you carry guns , buy ammunition , ladies and gentlemen , because it ’ s going to be hard to get.
” Caputo vowed that “ as God is my witness , I am not stopping ” his effort to control the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supports him .
It reminds me of Hannity ’ s certainty in the righteousness of America being tied to “ God ’ s plan to join them [ Americans ] together by His Spirit ” in a common cause .
Would that cause be to keep Donald Trump as president on election night if all the votes are not counted ?
As this newsletter was about to be released , the Trump Administration decided that leaving Caputo in his very public position was not helping the President win his re-election .
Consequently , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave to tend to his mental health .
He will be collecting his full pay and benefits and of course be free to do as he pleases .
Perhaps he will campaign for Trump and , as he recommended others to do , go out and buy some ammunition .
A final note on how citizenship can bind us together , and not necessarily through Christianity , or any other religion or ideology like capitalism , socialism or otherwise .
Citizenship should unite us in a belief that a democratic republic protects individuals @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s welfare .
David Mathews , president of the Kettering Foundation , tells of a small , but telling , incident .
One that points to how our country became a model for liberating individuals from authoritative powers .
“ In a draft of the document [ the Declaration of Independence ] , Thomas Jefferson had written the word .
Later , he expunged the word , smearing the ink and carefully overwriting it with another word — This finding reveals an important shift in the Founders ’ thinking : the people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , not a distant King.
” We should add that our allegiance is to our fellow citizens and not to any individual president ’ s self-interests .
Nick Licata is author of Becoming A Citizen Activist , and has served 5 terms on the Seattle City Council , named progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation , and is founding board chair of Local Progress , a national network of 1,000 progressive municipal officials .
Subscribe to Licata ’ s newsletter Citizenship Politics .

Citizenship should support a democratic republic that protects individuals’ freedoms and the community’s welfare. We need it to avoid another civil war.
The U.S. stands out since its creation as championing the rights of all individuals, as proclaimed in the Declaration that Jefferson wrote for the new nation. Always clever, Jefferson substituted “pursuit of happiness” for “possessing property” in order to cast a wider net. Although initially those who did not own enough property, or were women or Jews, were deprived of the vote by state governments. Enslaved blacks, of course, were not even considered citizens — they were someone else’s property.
Still, America’s revolution, which championed individual freedoms, can be seen as the spark in the U.S. for abolishing slavery and guaranteeing women the right to vote.
Today, defending individual freedom has been used to defend the “right not to wear a mask,” ignoring the fact that its absence may result in your fellow citizens being infected with the coronavirus. Others claim the right to possess an assault rifle, which is solely designed to kill people. For some citizens, concern for the welfare of the larger community is too abstract a notion to compensate for losing such personal freedoms. That is the tension between an individual’s freedom and the community’s welfare.
Progressive-Democrat Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal, in her book Use the Power You Have, coined the derisive term “individual supremacy.” It describes an attitude that “rejects compassion in favor of fear of others,” and pits “individual needs versus what is best for the whole communities”. She believes such a perspective “stops us from thinking about the ways in which we are linked” and the responsibility we have to each other to tackle big issues such as climate change.
Trump-Conservative Sean Hannity, Fox News’ lead political commentator, attacks leftists in his book Live Free or Die, for “decreeing what kind of straws you can drink from, what kind of lightbulbs you can use, and what kind of power your home can use.” He does not see these individual acts contributing to climate change and causing any harm to the larger community. Such regulations that limit our behavior are unacceptable to him and others. But Hannity does favor promoting our nation being built upon a community of Christians that require individuals to adopt their values. He fondly quotes the book, The Light and the Glory: 1492-1793 (God's Plan for America) in describing how our nation’s founders were “chosen by God for a specific purpose: … rediscovering God’s plan to join them together by His Spirit in the common cause of advancing His Kingdom,” and to “operate not as lone individualists, but in covenanted groups.”
The difference on how Jayapal and Hannity frame responsible individual rights to a larger community would seem to be unbreachable. Nevertheless, some folks are leading an effort to redefine citizenship as a means to find some common ground between these opposing forces — before they are resolved on a battle ground, as happened in 1860.
Eric Liu and Nick Hanauer, in Gardens of Democracy, identify the rise of a new citizenship. It builds upon our founders embracing the ideas that emerged from the Enlightenment. They created a democratic republic separate from the confines of a single religion and church. It substituted reason for doctrine, independence for obedience, scientific method for superstition, and human ambition for divine predestination. Liu went on to give 19 speeches around the country promoting active citizenship, to rehumanize our politics and rekindle a spirit of love in civic life. His book Become America: Civic Sermons on Love, Responsibility, and Democracy contains all of his sermons.
Harry Boyte, co-director of the Institute for Public Life and Work at Augsburg University, argues in Awakening Democracy through Public Work that citizens should be seen as producers, not consumers. He sees a need for a stronger, more participatory democratic society, which recalls the citizen-led effort of the Civil Rights Movement. He goes beyond defining democracy as free elections and largely the activity of government. That approach relies on selecting good political leaders who encourage broad citizen participation. But when the nation’s highest elected leader divides citizens into patriots and terrorists based on their beliefs, there is a need for strong institutions and a culture of acceptance that can push our public officials to unite all citizens to work for the common welfare.
One such organization pursuing that endeavor is Braver Angels, formed primarily by academics and church leaders representing a grassroots movement to depolarize America’s politics. Their board of directors, staff, workshop participants, and funding sources — all are balanced between liberals and conservatives.
They now have more than 11,000 members working in their project, With Malice Toward None, to collect individual pledges not to “hold hate” toward others who vote differently. A signer pledges “to understand the concerns and aspirations of those who voted differently,” to listen to the opposition rather than fear the opposition. It’s an exercise in self-control that is particularly relevant to our presidential election, since they see evidence “that we are now as polarized as we have been since the Civil War.”
Some of President Trump’s highest appointed public officials would agree. They are preparing for a real war out of fear – of what? Losing the election? That appears to be the case with Michael Caputo, who handles communications for the Cabinet department in charge of combating the coronavirus. He charged government scientists on Sun., Sept. 13, of sedition (a felony punishable up to 20 years in prison). He further asserted that left-wing hit squads were preparing for armed insurrection after the election. He made that charge after officials at the Centers for Disease Control told various media how Caputo demanded the agency revise, delay, and scuttle CDC’s public health updates that could imply that the pandemic is not under control.
Caputo sees a gun fight come January. He posted on Facebook, “when Donald Trump refuses to stand down at the inauguration, the shooting will begin,” and added, “If you carry guns, buy ammunition, ladies and gentlemen, because it’s going to be hard to get.” Caputo vowed that “as God is my witness, I am not stopping” his effort to control the scientists’ work, because President Trump supports him. It reminds me of Hannity’s certainty in the righteousness of America being tied to “God’s plan to join them [Americans] together by His Spirit” in a common cause. Would that cause be to keep Donald Trump as president on election night if all the votes are not counted?
As this newsletter was about to be released, the Trump Administration decided that leaving Caputo in his very public position was not helping the President win his re-election. Consequently, he was put on a 60-day administrative leave to tend to his mental health. He will be collecting his full pay and benefits and of course be free to do as he pleases. Perhaps he will campaign for Trump and, as he recommended others to do, go out and buy some ammunition.
A final note on how citizenship can bind us together, and not necessarily through Christianity, or any other religion or ideology like capitalism, socialism or otherwise.
Citizenship should unite us in a belief that a democratic republic protects individuals’ freedoms as well as the community’s welfare.
David Mathews, president of the Kettering Foundation, tells of a small, but telling, incident. One that points to how our country became a model for liberating individuals from authoritative powers.
“In a draft of the document [the Declaration of Independence], Thomas Jefferson had written the word subjects . Later, he expunged the word, smearing the ink and carefully overwriting it with another word — citizens. This finding reveals an important shift in the Founders’ thinking: the people’s allegiance was to each other, not a distant King.”
We should add that our allegiance is to our fellow citizens and not to any individual president’s self-interests.
Nick Licata is author of Becoming A Citizen Activist, and
has served 5 terms on the Seattle City Council, named progressive municipal official of the year by The Nation, and is founding board chair of Local Progress, a national network of 1,000 progressive municipal officials.
Subscribe to Licata’s newsletter Citizenship Politics.


dailykos--2020-09-04--It's not Trump Vs. Biden; It's Trump Vs. Democracy

It ’ s not a new thing to take the weakest , least capable family members and keep them hidden or send them away .
The rich and famous have done that for centuries .
What ’ s new is rather than send Donald away , his family chose to prop him up .
As Mary Trump , Donald Trump ’ s niece , makes clear in various ways throughout her book , the Trump family dynamic was such that their survival as a business ( which is what this family is and was from the moment Fred Trump and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a front man to make it successful , and Donald fit that bill .
Donald ’ s incessant need for attention has always made it impossible to ignore him , so people enabled him instead .
For the family , there was no upside to confronting Donald with the truth , so nobody did .
They ’ d experienced the tantrums and cruelty Donald was capable of when he was still a child .
They knew his propensity for holding grudges and punishing those he perceived has having slighted him .
Donald always @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ego required it and his ego is the single thing Donald Trump is trained to defend , at all costs .
By the time he became President , he ’ d been protected from his own ignorance , incompetence and failures for over 70 years .
The Trump family never imagined that the more rich and powerful Donald Trump appeared , the more people outside the Trump family would be willing to suspend their own disbelief and go along with the façade .
It never occurred to his family that the rest of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damaged offspring as capable but would deify him as the new leader of the Christian right .
The Trump family pretended Donald Trump was everything he said he was because their business depended on it .
They had no idea where their conspiracy to defraud the public would take them .
Donald Trump does not run a successful family business , contrary to popular belief .
His father , Fred Trump did that .
Fred ’ s eldest son , Fred Jr. ( Freddie ) wasn ’ t cutthroat enough for his father @ @ @ @ @ @ @ made him uncomfortable with his father ’ s “ kill or be killed ” mentality .
Freddie ’ s failure became Donald ’ s opportunity .
It didn ’ t matter that Donald was an undisciplined underachiever ; what mattered was he had confidence , and with confidence you can convince people of anything .
Donald is no scholar ; he barely reads .
He doesn ’ t remember anything that doesn ’ t facilitate the only feelings he is capable of : superiority , self-importance , entitlement , lust for power .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ his mind tells him will make him appear smarter , more interesting and more powerful than he is .
The compulsive need to feed his ego is constant and can never be sated .
Donald Trump is not well ; he is broken .
Everyone who works closely with him can see it , but nobody seems to know what to do about it .
For years the media has been saying Trump just needs to “ be more presidential ” or “ stop saying the quiet part out loud.
” They assume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He can ’ t .
He is a shell of a man whose entire existence is based on lies .
Donald Trump is not really the President ; he just plays one on TV .
Don McGahan chose the judges Trump appointed to the Supreme Court and formed the team that filled all the judicial vacancies .
Putin guides Trump ’ s international diplomacy and , Mitch McConnell blocks any legislation that his cronies might not like .
Donald Trump has somehow become the de facto leader of the Christian right .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; he ’ s their Golden Calf .
We must stop comparing Trump to normal people .
Normal people with dementia may sound like Trump sounds , but Trump does not have dementia , he is simply making everything up as he goes along .
He hears things ; he repeats them ; he embellishes ; he fabricates .
He spews nonsense because that ’ s what ’ s in his head .
Trumps has no policy ; there is no big plan ; there is no consistency .
There is only a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump to claim more and more power until he can justify taking all the control from the rioting , undeserving American public , leaving our once great democracy in tatters .
If you ’ ve assumed Trump ’ s willingness to appoint right-wing judges makes up for all his other failings , you are mistaken .
Trump has systematically dismantled our environmental protections and regulations designed to protect consumers , depleted our federal government infrastructure and is doing his best to destroy the postal service while encouraging his own supporters to commit election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump has done , it can not outweigh the failure to protect the American people from Covid-19 , or the damage he ’ s doing to our system of government .
And whatever you dislike about Joe Biden , he will never leave the American people at the mercy of chance when it comes to protecting us from danger .
The choice is clear .
This election isn ’ t about Trump vs. Biden ; it ’ s Trump vs. Democracy .
If Trump wins , we lose .
It ’ s that @ @

Mary Trump’s book, Too Much and Never Enough, describes Donald Trump as a wounded soul who never develops the capacity for intimacy, empathy, compassion, or understanding. He’s not a fully developed human being; he is stunted emotionally and psychologically. But the most fascinating dynamic revealed in the book is the one controlling the monumental effort that has gone into fooling the world into believing the book’s subject, Donald J. Trump, is some sort of genius.
It’s not a new thing to take the weakest, least capable family members and keep them hidden or send them away. The rich and famous have done that for centuries. What’s new is rather than send Donald away, his family chose to prop him up. As Mary Trump, Donald Trump’s niece, makes clear in various ways throughout her book, the Trump family dynamic was such that their survival as a business (which is what this family is and was from the moment Fred Trump and his wife created their dynasty) required a front man to make it successful, and Donald fit that bill.
Donald’s incessant need for attention has always made it impossible to ignore him, so people enabled him instead. For the family, there was no upside to confronting Donald with the truth, so nobody did. They’d experienced the tantrums and cruelty Donald was capable of when he was still a child. They knew his propensity for holding grudges and punishing those he perceived has having slighted him. Donald always won. He had to. His ego required it and his ego is the single thing Donald Trump is trained to defend, at all costs.
By the time he became President, he’d been protected from his own ignorance, incompetence and failures for over 70 years. The Trump family never imagined that the more rich and powerful Donald Trump appeared, the more people outside the Trump family would be willing to suspend their own disbelief and go along with the façade. It never occurred to his family that the rest of the world would not only accept their damaged offspring as capable but would deify him as the new leader of the Christian right. The Trump family pretended Donald Trump was everything he said he was because their business depended on it. They had no idea where their conspiracy to defraud the public would take them.
Donald Trump does not run a successful family business, contrary to popular belief. His father, Fred Trump did that. Fred’s eldest son, Fred Jr. (Freddie) wasn’t cutthroat enough for his father, and his innate sense of humanity made him uncomfortable with his father’s “kill or be killed” mentality. Freddie’s failure became Donald’s opportunity. It didn’t matter that Donald was an undisciplined underachiever; what mattered was he had confidence, and with confidence you can convince people of anything.
Donald is no scholar; he barely reads. He doesn’t remember anything that doesn’t facilitate the only feelings he is capable of: superiority, self-importance, entitlement, lust for power. He says, does and thinks whatever his mind tells him will make him appear smarter, more interesting and more powerful than he is. The compulsive need to feed his ego is constant and can never be sated. Donald Trump is not well; he is broken. Everyone who works closely with him can see it, but nobody seems to know what to do about it.
For years the media has been saying Trump just needs to “be more presidential” or “stop saying the quiet part out loud.” They assume he can grow, learn, change. He can’t. He is a shell of a man whose entire existence is based on lies. Donald Trump is not really the President; he just plays one on TV.
Don McGahan chose the judges Trump appointed to the Supreme Court and formed the team that filled all the judicial vacancies. Putin guides Trump’s international diplomacy and, Mitch McConnell blocks any legislation that his cronies might not like. Donald Trump has somehow become the de facto leader of the Christian right.
But Trump is not their Chosen One; he’s their Golden Calf.
We must stop comparing Trump to normal people. Normal people with dementia may sound like Trump sounds, but Trump does not have dementia, he is simply making everything up as he goes along. He hears things; he repeats them; he embellishes; he fabricates. He spews nonsense because that’s what’s in his head.
Trumps has no policy; there is no big plan; there is no consistency. There is only a steady move toward chaos that will allow Trump to claim more and more power until he can justify taking all the control from the rioting, undeserving American public, leaving our once great democracy in tatters.
If you’ve assumed Trump’s willingness to appoint right-wing judges makes up for all his other failings, you are mistaken. Trump has systematically dismantled our environmental protections and regulations designed to protect consumers, depleted our federal government infrastructure and is doing his best to destroy the postal service while encouraging his own supporters to commit election fraud.
Whatever you like about what Trump has done, it cannot outweigh the failure to protect the American people from Covid-19, or the damage he’s doing to our system of government. And whatever you dislike about Joe Biden, he will never leave the American people at the mercy of chance when it comes to protecting us from danger. The choice is clear.
This election isn’t about Trump vs. Biden; it’s Trump vs. Democracy. If Trump wins, we lose. It’s that simple.


dailykos--2020-09-20--I NEED HELP IN ANSWERING 2 IMPORTANT QUESTONS regarding the appointment to fill RBG’s seat.

Vice President Mike Pence ’ s chief of staff Marc Short told CNN Sunday morning said , the “ Historical @ @ @ @ @ ’ s in power , and the president nominates , consistently going back to George @ @ @ @ @ continued to confirm those nominees … So I don ’ t think there ’ s @ @ @ @ @ conclusion with a statistic that of the 29 appointments to SCOTUS , 19 have been @ @ @ @ @ President being from the same party , all passed .
However , when the Senate @ @ @ @ @ parties , 10 were introduced but only 1 passed .
But that statistic does not @ @ @ @ @ How many of those 29 appointments were made in the last year of a president @ @ @ @ @ many vacancies were in the last year of a president ’ s term and not @ @ @ @ @ President ?

Vice President Mike Pence’s chief of staff Marc Short told CNN Sunday morning said, the “Historical precedent is when your party’s in power, and the president nominates, consistently going back to George Washington, the party has continued to confirm those nominees … So I don’t think there’s hypocrisy.”
He supported his conclusion with a statistic that of the 29 appointments to SCOTUS, 19 have been with both Senate and the President being from the same party, all passed. However, when the Senate and President were from different parties, 10 were introduced but only 1 passed.
But that statistic does not show 2 important facts:
How many of those 29 appointments were made in the last year of a president’s term?
How many vacancies were in the last year of a president’s term and not pursued by the Senate or President?


dailykos--2020-09-22--I Believe in America - Good News Roundup, Bluesday September 22nd, 2020

I believe in the idea of America .
I believe in the words “ Liberty and justice for all.
” There is no place in our America where “ for all ” excludes people because of the color of their skin , their gender , the language they speak or the orientation of their affections .
When the United States broke away from the English crown , we gave the world an idea .
We rejected the “ divine right ” of kings .
While we haven ’ t always lived up to it , it ’ s been our @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The French even co-opted the sentiment as their national motto : Liberté , égalité , fraternité That last word “ fraternité ” translates as brotherhood or fraternity .
I don ’ t think that captures the essence of what it means to a liberal democracy .
The best of our country is about community , camaraderie , comity , compassion , concern , charity and caring for our fellow citizens .
The republican establishment has had some success painting compassion as socialism ( and they mean that in the Stalinist sense of “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that argument by attacking it directly as scaremongering and asking if a person should just ignore suffering because they aren ’ t personally involved .
What we are witnessing is a conscious effort to diminish the idea of what it means to be an American .
The norm shattering behavior of tRump , the blatant hypocrisy of republican politicians , the commercialization of political influence as a purchasable commodity , available to the highest bidder are all signs of a party that ’ s lost its soul .
There are very few moral @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The liars need to go .
At their core , our votes between now and November 3rd aren ’ t so much about a bellicose orange-tinted braggart ’ s unsuitability for office , as they are about our vision for what America can be .
What it should be .
We have the moral high ground .
Let ’ s make sure we use it .
All the small-minded , greedy , selfish , sniveling compromised servants of Putin and Koch can not take our dreams of a better future for all of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ not take our country away .
We will not let them .
We ’ ve got 42 days left .
Six weeks .
Two more NNNE GNRs ( I also have election day duty ) .
We ’ ve got Joementum on our side .
Let ’ s do this .
And it ’ s on to the news , We can and should use the life and spirit of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to inspire us moving forward .
Rolling Stone : May Her Memory Be a Movement by Alexis McGill Johnson , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ country grieves the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg , I ’ m reflecting on the time before she was the Notorious RBG , before the court , before the collars .
When she was just Ruth .
She took care of a toddler , and a husband battling cancer , while in law school , opening her books at 2 a.m. to prepare for class .
At Rutgers Law School , she hid her second pregnancy so that she wouldn ’ t lose her job as a professor .
She @ @ @ @ @ @ @ legal strategy that would take down gender discrimination in the law .
She was a quiet , patient force , and she changed everything for generations of women .
So it is fitting , though heartbreaking , that Justice Ginsburg died on Rosh Hashanah , which according to Jewish tradition marks her as a tzaddik , a person of great righteousness .
Over the course of her life , she carried heavy loads on her small frame .
In law school , she bore the weight with grace , graduating valedictorian .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ weight of discrimination , facing rejection after rejection .
On the Supreme Court , she carried the weight of the unheard and overlooked on her shoulders .
Every single day for 27 years , through battles with cancer and the death of her beloved Marty , she carried us so well .
Now it is our turn .
She left us a legacy , and we must carry it forward .
CNN : Ginsburg will become the first woman in history to lie in state in US Capitol There is a reckoning coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Back when tRump was just a loud-mouthed idiot playing “ mine ’ s bigger ” on the huckster circuit , he wasn ’ t under the microscope , being investigated for all the shady crap he ’ s done .
It ’ s a little different today .
He ’ s not used to this level of scrutiny and his bleat and bluster technique doesn ’ t play as well in the big leagues .
NBC New York : Manhattan DA Cites ‘ Mountain ' of Allegations in Request to Access Trump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Play : Inside the Sordid History of Trump ’ s DC Hotel Last fall , the Trump organization dropped an October surprise : It was thinking of selling its luxury DC hotel , a towering , granite symbol of Trump ’ s takeover of official Washington—and of his unprecedented , for-profit presidency .
The timing was notable .
It was nearly three years to the day that the Trumps used golden scissors to snip the ribbon on the just-renovated property , housed in a historic , Romanesque Revival–style federal building that had served @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until World War 1 .
By contract with its landlord , the General Services Administration , this anniversary was the first chance the Trumps had to offload their lease .
The proposed price tag : $ 500 million , one of the highest amounts per room that any hotel has ever commanded .
But why put the hotel on the block now ?
“ People are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel , and therefore we may be willing to sell , ” the president ’ s son Eric @ @ @ @ @ @ @ broke the story .
The hotel had become known as one of Trump ’ s most brazen conflicts of interest .
Yet Eric ’ s rationale didn ’ t add up .
By his logic , the Trump Organization hoped to halt ethical questions over the hotel by creating a gigantic new conflict of interest , since the motives of any potential buyer would be in question .
A glossy sales brochure that CNN obtained put forth another reason : The hotel wasn ’ t earning its full potential .
As if anticipating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t raking in more , the sales pitch claimed the Trumps had lost out on $ 9 million in revenue in 2019 by not seeking business from foreign governments .
( Trump pledged to donate profits from foreign government business to the Treasury when , in 2017 , he refused to fully relinquish control of his business empire . )
“ Tremendous upside potential exists for a new owner to fully capitalize on government related business , ” the brochure stated .
It wasn ’ t just here that revenues were lackluster .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ number of Trump businesses—even before the pandemic hit .
We are seeing more and more articles like this .
I call it the , “ We are tired of all the lies ” school of journalism .
Four years ago he got a free pass .
It ’ s not happening the same way this time .
With a record of mendacity second to none , tRump is flailing against his well earned reputation as our very own Liar-in-Chief .
Boston Herald : President Trump lies , and Americans take the hit “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , ” Gore Vidal once observed , “ it takes generations to bring back the truth.
” Many of us don ’ t have generations left , and after four years in which the American president has waged thermonuclear war on the truth , we face the depressing reality of living out our days in a country in which , thanks to Donald Trump and the cult-like embrace of him by far too many of our countrymen , corruption has not been merely normalized but legitimized .
It is hard to imagine that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ honest human being than The Donald , and even harder to imagine that anyone believes a word he utters .
But even 20,000 or so documented falsehoods into the Trump Administration later , millions of Americans still do , which makes the grim reality of the America of 2020 that much grimmer .
The release of Bob Woodward ’ s taped interviews with the president illustrates that the lying has not only left a heretofore accepted American value system shattered , but tens of thousands of American needlessly dead .
To no one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a president who was quite deliberately lying to the American people over and over about the deadly virus he was trying to gull us into believing was a “ hoax.
” Refusing to take the steps to procure ventilators desperately needed to save lives and equipment badly needed to protect health care workers and others , staging rallies that eased his ego while endangering the lives of all those present and undermining health officials ’ frantic efforts to promote life-saving social distancing and mask-wearing , the president mocked the very idea that any @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was , he said , “ going to disappear.
” It was “ low risk.
” It was “ very much under control.
” He had “ pretty much shut it down.
” It was no more than 15 cases , and “ within a couple of days ( it ) is going to be close to zero.
” The virtuoso con artist was conning America , as all but the stoutly fact-resistant now know .
The excerpts of Trump ’ s taped admissions that his public pronouncements were hogwash and that he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Americans have now been infected with the coronavirus , the number of new cases has increased by 10 % in the last week in 31 states and 200,000 Americans have been killed by the disease .
As Trump was belittling the notion that the disease was even worth mentioning , he was confiding in Woodward .
“ It ’ s a horrible thing .
It ’ s unbelievable.
” He was saying , “ It ’ s so easily transmissible , you wouldn ’ t even believe it.
” He was saying , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demanding that states open schools and universities and claiming that young people were “ almost immune ” to the virus , here was what our president was telling Woodward : “ Now it ’ s turning out that it ’ s not just old people ( who are contracting COVID-19 ) .
Young people , too .
Plenty of young people.
” Grifty McGrabbyThief Keeps on Snagging the Green I am so not surprised .
At the moment , I ’ d rather see him do this than spend it on ads .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Huffington Post : Trump Blew A Big Cash Advantage But Still Puts Campaign Dollars In His Own Pocket I wonder if they are getting used to it yet ?
Big banks are only in it for the money ?
Who knew ?
Yeah , I know , the answer is we all knew this was going on .
But having it exposed like this is going to chap some butt cheeks and it is making some Wall Street grifters a tad bit uncomfortable .
Buzz Feed News : Dirty money pours into the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The FinCEN files .
I know it ’ s a pedestrian beer , but maybe you can give it away to people with less discriminating palates .
GoodNewsNetwork : Miller Beer is Giving Away a Dive Bar For Your Backyard We ’ ve all heard about this by now .
Here ’ s the horse ’ s mouth .
Statements like this make a difference .
When injustice becomes law , resistance becomes duty .
— Thomas Jefferson ( a favorite quote of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ) Those who can make you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ atrocities .
― Voltaire , Questions sur les Miracles à M. Claparede , Professeur de Théologie à Genève , par un Proposant : Ou Extrait de Diverses Lettres de M. de Voltaire Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere .
― Martin Luther King Jr .
If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature , but by our institutions , great is our sin .
― Charles Darwin , Voyage of the Beagle Each time a man stands up for an ideal , or acts to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ strikes out against injustice , he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope , and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance .
― Robert F. Kennedy Dissents speak to a future age .
It 's not simply to say , 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way . '
But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hope : that they are writing not for today , but for tomorrow .
— Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Yosef 52 ’ s latest guide to how to help get rid of republicans .
Share this far and wide : Want to WIN ?
GET OUT THE VOTE !
Here 's EVERYTHING You Need to Do That .
Last night the Shade took a few pot shots at Billy Boi Barr : The Bill Is Due - Evening Shade , Monday For those of you who think the Evening Shade is only a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it also a source for links to many ( maybe most ) of the daily deluge of political ads put out by organizations working to elect Joe Biden , as well as new anti-tRump parody songs ( Randy Rainbow , Parody Project , etc ) .
It ’ s also an evening place for Gnusies to gather and continue the day ’ s conversations .
We ’ ll let the dead play is out with this tune , performed thirty years and two days ago , at Madison Square Gardens .
Except for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this view .
Disclaimer : Many of my true sentiments were not expressed , because I don ’ t want to get banned .

I believe in the idea of America.
I believe in the words “Liberty and justice for all.”
There is no place in our America where “for all” excludes people because of the color of their skin, their gender, the language they speak or the orientation of their affections.
When the United States broke away from the English crown, we gave the world an idea. We rejected the “divine right” of kings. While we haven’t always lived up to it, it’s been our goal since the Declaration was signed.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — Declaration of Independence, 1776
The French even co-opted the sentiment as their national motto: Liberté, égalité, fraternité
That last word “fraternité” translates as brotherhood or fraternity. I don’t think that captures the essence of what it means to a liberal democracy. The best of our country is about community, camaraderie, comity, compassion, concern, charity and caring for our fellow citizens. The republican establishment has had some success painting compassion as socialism (and they mean that in the Stalinist sense of “socialism”). We can dismantle that argument by attacking it directly as scaremongering and asking if a person should just ignore suffering because they aren’t personally involved.
What we are witnessing is a conscious effort to diminish the idea of what it means to be an American. The norm shattering behavior of tRump, the blatant hypocrisy of republican politicians, the commercialization of political influence as a purchasable commodity, available to the highest bidder are all signs of a party that’s lost its soul. There are very few moral or ethical republicans left in office. The liars need to go.
At their core, our votes between now and November 3rd aren’t so much about a bellicose orange-tinted braggart’s unsuitability for office, as they are about our vision for what America can be. What it should be. We have the moral high ground. Let’s make sure we use it.
All the small-minded, greedy, selfish, sniveling compromised servants of Putin and Koch cannot take our dreams of a better future for all of us away from us. They will not take our country away. We will not let them.
We’ve got 42 days left. Six weeks. Two more NNNE GNRs (I also have election day duty). We’ve got Joementum on our side. Let’s do this.
Tyrannis sedito. Sic semper tyrannis.
Up the Resistance
GOTMFV
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And it’s on to the news,
Remembering a Justice
We can and should use the life and spirit of Ruth Bader Ginsburg to inspire us moving forward.
Rolling Stone: May Her Memory Be a Movement by Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Action Fund President
As the country grieves the loss of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, I’m reflecting on the time before she was the Notorious RBG, before the court, before the collars. When she was just Ruth. She took care of a toddler, and a husband battling cancer, while in law school, opening her books at 2 a.m. to prepare for class. At Rutgers Law School, she hid her second pregnancy so that she wouldn’t lose her job as a professor. She cared for her family while building the legal strategy that would take down gender discrimination in the law. She was a quiet, patient force, and she changed everything for generations of women. So it is fitting, though heartbreaking, that Justice Ginsburg died on Rosh Hashanah, which according to Jewish tradition marks her as a tzaddik, a person of great righteousness. Over the course of her life, she carried heavy loads on her small frame. In law school, she bore the weight with grace, graduating valedictorian. In her early career, she carried the weight of discrimination, facing rejection after rejection. On the Supreme Court, she carried the weight of the unheard and overlooked on her shoulders. Every single day for 27 years, through battles with cancer and the death of her beloved Marty, she carried us so well. Now it is our turn. She left us a legacy, and we must carry it forward.
CNN: Ginsburg will become the first woman in history to lie in state in US Capitol
As noted by WineRev: >>>MAJOR BUNGLE/FUMBLE by CNN (and unfortunately reported here). Justice Ginsberg will be the 2nd/SECOND/#2 woman to lie in State at The Capitol. 2005….. Rosa Parks …….there are photos and video….Even President Shrub paid his respects…...in the Rotunda of the Capitol.
As noted by thomich: CNN was right imo. Parks laid in HONOR only public servants (RBG) can lay in state.
I’m not sure whether the distinction between HONOR and STATE is a hill to die on, so I’m staying out of this.
(CNN)Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will become the first woman in history to lie in state in the US Capitol when her casket is placed in National Statuary Hall on Friday, according to congressional historians. The historic event, which was announced by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Monday, will feature a formal ceremony for invited guests only because of the coronavirus pandemic. Lying in state is a tribute reserved for the most distinguished government officials and military officers, while lying in honor is a distinction given to private citizens.
Chickens Coming Home to Roost
There is a reckoning coming and it won’t be gentle. Back when tRump was just a loud-mouthed idiot playing “mine’s bigger” on the huckster circuit, he wasn’t under the microscope, being investigated for all the shady crap he’s done. It’s a little different today. He’s not used to this level of scrutiny and his bleat and bluster technique doesn’t play as well in the big leagues.
NBC New York: Manhattan DA Cites ‘Mountain' of Allegations in Request to Access Trump Tax Records
The Manhattan district attorney’s office told a federal appeals court Monday that its quest to gain access to President Donald Trump’s tax returns is supported by “a mountainous record” of public allegations of misconduct. ... they cited multiple news reports in which Trump or his companies have been accused of overstating the value of his assets when dealing with potential business partners and lenders while minimizing the value of those same assets for tax purposes. “Any investigation into the types of potential financial improprieties described above would of necessity require a review, not only of tax returns, but source documents, working papers, and communications of the sort identified in the Mazars Subpoena, to evaluate the accuracy and good faith of the positions taken in the filings, as well as the roles of various employees and other potential witnesses,” they wrote.
CNBC: New York attorney general readies lawsuit after Trump’s DOJ labels NYC ‘anarchist jurisdiction,’ threatening federal funds
New York Attorney General Letitia James warned Monday she is preparing a lawsuit after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department labeled New York City an “anarchist jurisdiction” and threatened to withhold federal grant money. Trump “is trying to distract the American people from his failures as a leader and is using the last few months of his presidency to sow more chaos, more hatred, and more fear,” James said in a statement. “The president should be prepared to defend this illegal order in court, which hypocritically lays the groundwork to defund New York and the very types of law enforcement President Trump pretends to care about.”
Mother Jones: Stay to Play: Inside the Sordid History of Trump’s DC Hotel
Last fall, the Trump organization dropped an October surprise: It was thinking of selling its luxury DC hotel, a towering, granite symbol of Trump’s takeover of official Washington—and of his unprecedented, for-profit presidency. The timing was notable. It was nearly three years to the day that the Trumps used golden scissors to snip the ribbon on the just-renovated property, housed in a historic, Romanesque Revival–style federal building that had served as DC’s main post office until World War 1. By contract with its landlord, the General Services Administration, this anniversary was the first chance the Trumps had to offload their lease. The proposed price tag: $500 million, one of the highest amounts per room that any hotel has ever commanded. But why put the hotel on the block now? “People are objecting to us making so much money on the hotel, and therefore we may be willing to sell,” the president’s son Eric told the Wall Street Journal, which broke the story. The hotel had become known as one of Trump’s most brazen conflicts of interest. Yet Eric’s rationale didn’t add up. By his logic, the Trump Organization hoped to halt ethical questions over the hotel by creating a gigantic new conflict of interest, since the motives of any potential buyer would be in question. A glossy sales brochure that CNN obtained put forth another reason: The hotel wasn’t earning its full potential. As if anticipating questions about why the hotel wasn’t raking in more, the sales pitch claimed the Trumps had lost out on $9 million in revenue in 2019 by not seeking business from foreign governments. (Trump pledged to donate profits from foreign government business to the Treasury when, in 2017, he refused to fully relinquish control of his business empire.) “Tremendous upside potential exists for a new owner to fully capitalize on government related business,” the brochure stated. It wasn’t just here that revenues were lackluster. They were coming up short at a number of Trump businesses—even before the pandemic hit.
Calling Out a Liar
We are seeing more and more articles like this. I call it the, “We are tired of all the lies” school of journalism. Four years ago he got a free pass. It’s not happening the same way this time. With a record of mendacity second to none, tRump is flailing against his well earned reputation as our very own Liar-in-Chief.
Boston Herald: President Trump lies, and Americans take the hit
“Once a country is habituated to liars,” Gore Vidal once observed, “it takes generations to bring back the truth.” Many of us don’t have generations left, and after four years in which the American president has waged thermonuclear war on the truth, we face the depressing reality of living out our days in a country in which, thanks to Donald Trump and the cult-like embrace of him by far too many of our countrymen, corruption has not been merely normalized but legitimized. It is hard to imagine that the Good Lord ever created a less honest human being than The Donald, and even harder to imagine that anyone believes a word he utters. But even 20,000 or so documented falsehoods into the Trump Administration later, millions of Americans still do, which makes the grim reality of the America of 2020 that much grimmer. The release of Bob Woodward’s taped interviews with the president illustrates that the lying has not only left a heretofore accepted American value system shattered, but tens of thousands of American needlessly dead. To no one’s surprise, the tapes disclose a president who was quite deliberately lying to the American people over and over about the deadly virus he was trying to gull us into believing was a “hoax.” Refusing to take the steps to procure ventilators desperately needed to save lives and equipment badly needed to protect health care workers and others, staging rallies that eased his ego while endangering the lives of all those present and undermining health officials’ frantic efforts to promote life-saving social distancing and mask-wearing, the president mocked the very idea that any public health issue even existed. It was, he said, “going to disappear.” It was “low risk.” It was “very much under control.” He had “pretty much shut it down.” It was no more than 15 cases, and “within a couple of days (it) is going to be close to zero.” The virtuoso con artist was conning America, as all but the stoutly fact-resistant now know. The excerpts of Trump’s taped admissions that his public pronouncements were hogwash and that he knew it were released as 6.7 million Americans have now been infected with the coronavirus, the number of new cases has increased by 10% in the last week in 31 states and 200,000 Americans have been killed by the disease. As Trump was belittling the notion that the disease was even worth mentioning, he was confiding in Woodward. “It’s a horrible thing. It’s unbelievable.” He was saying, “It’s so easily transmissible, you wouldn’t even believe it.” He was saying, “This is deadly stuff.” While demanding that states open schools and universities and claiming that young people were “almost immune” to the virus, here was what our president was telling Woodward: “Now it’s turning out that it’s not just old people (who are contracting COVID-19). Young people, too. Plenty of young people.”
Grifty McGrabbyThief Keeps on Snagging the Green
I am so not surprised. At the moment, I’d rather see him do this than spend it on ads. Let him piss it all away.
Huffington Post: Trump Blew A Big Cash Advantage But Still Puts Campaign Dollars In His Own Pocket
WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump forced both his current and former campaign managers to take pay cuts in the last two months, but nevertheless funneled another quarter-million dollars into his own cash registers. Even as his reelection operation lost a once-dominating fundraising advantage to Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, new filings with the Federal Election Commission show that Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee spent another $203,000 at his hotel a few blocks from the White House and another $37,542 to rent space at his Trump Tower in Manhattan ― although the campaign is based at a high-rise in Arlington, Virginia. Total reported payments in August from the campaign and the RNC to the president’s own businesses amounted to $251,409. Since he took office in January 2017, the political committees under Trump’s control have spent a total of $7,231,392 at Trump’s various businesses, according to a HuffPost analysis of FEC records.
Another Court Defeat
I wonder if they are getting used to it yet?
CNN: Judge dismisses Trump campaign challenge to Nevada mail-in voting law
(CNN)In a significant setback for the Trump campaign in the battleground state of Nevada, a federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by the campaign over the state's new mail-in voting law. Under the recently passed law all active voters receive a mail-in ballot, whether they ask for one or not. The bill, AB-4, was passed in a special session and requires all active voters to receive a mail in ballot during the state of emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The Trump campaign has 30 days to appeal. CNN has reached out to the campaigns for comment. The Nevada case has been one that the President has closely watched and hoped to win, according to his tweets -- and it's one of the few absentee ballot challenges initiated by the Trump campaign and Republican Party this election.
Shining a Light Under a Rock
Big banks are only in it for the money? Who knew? Yeah, I know, the answer is we all knew this was going on. But having it exposed like this is going to chap some butt cheeks and it is making some Wall Street grifters a tad bit uncomfortable.
Buzz Feed News: Dirty money pours into the world’s most powerful banks — The FinCEN files.
A huge trove of secret government documents reveals for the first time how the giants of Western banking move trillions of dollars in suspicious transactions, enriching themselves and their shareholders while facilitating the work of terrorists, kleptocrats, and drug kingpins. And the US government, despite its vast powers, fails to stop it.
Today, the FinCEN Files — thousands of “suspicious activity reports” and other US government documents — offer an unprecedented view of global financial corruption, the banks enabling it, and the government agencies that watch as it flourishes. BuzzFeed News has shared these reports with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and more than 100 news organizations in 88 countries. These documents, compiled by banks, shared with the government, but kept from public view, expose the hollowness of banking safeguards, and the ease with which criminals have exploited them. Profits from deadly drug wars, fortunes embezzled from developing countries, and hard-earned savings stolen in a Ponzi scheme were all allowed to flow into and out of these financial institutions, despite warnings from the banks’ own employees.
Just for tljdk
I know it’s a pedestrian beer, but maybe you can give it away to people with less discriminating palates.
GoodNewsNetwork: Miller Beer is Giving Away a Dive Bar For Your Backyard
Thousands of people, along with me, are surely missing the local neighborhood dive bar. The ‘come as you are’, no-judgement pub covered with beer insignias is a vibe that you just can’t get anywhere else. But, if you’ve ever wanted to recreate that feeling at home, now is your chance. Miller High Life is giving away a backyard dive bar valued at $10,000 to one lucky fan.
Science Speaks
We’ve all heard about this by now. Here’s the horse’s mouth. Statements like this make a difference.
Scientific American: Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden
Musical Interlude
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WineRev’s History Lesson Our resident history professor’s always interesting history lesson will appear here as soon as I notice he posts it in the comment section. Take it away WineRev: >>>MAJOR BUNGLE/FUMBLE by CNN (and unfortunately reported here). Justice Ginsberg will be the 2nd/SECOND/#2 woman to lie in State at The Capitol. 2005….. Rosa Parks …….there are photos and video….Even President Shrub paid his respects…...in the Rotunda of the Capitol. Trust your Historian on this one! ===================================================================================== Split hairs if you want: National Statuary Hall vs. The Rotunda…...but they are both under the same Dome, right? The same Capitol, right? Where Congress, the Article I bunch meets, right? Why hide/gloss over/downplay (!) ALL the other women of the US who have ever laid in State in this location, under this dome? In 1963 did anyone have the gall to report in hushed tones, “President Kennedy becomes the first President to ever lie in state in the Capitol because now we have TV cameras and so it counts…….” You can tell this bugs me……..I almost used the Headline button, I’m that ticked off. And yes, if I am over-reacting and have got this factually wrong, as always, I am quite willing to sit corrected. NNNE, feel free to clip out the above if you go to paste/promote the history entries up above in the main body. September 22nds that have been Good and Goofy (and busy! There be a lot of them today) in years past so your 9/22 present can be pondered with perspective and bemusement. 1290 (By the Shire Reckoning) The Shire, Middle Earth Birth of Bilbo Baggins, adventurer and author. From a respectable family of Hobbits and the main character of ‘ The Hobbit.’ 1368 (Again by the Shire Reckoning) The Shire, Middle Earth Birth of Frodo Baggins, adventurer, Ring-Bearer, author. Nephew of Bilbo (see entry above for 1290). Wandered away from the Shire, fell in with a Fellowship that included other Hobbits, an Elf, a Dwarf, and a couple non-Kings, found and carried a Ring, saw a couple Towers (both structurally unsound and collapsed about when he visited,) a White City carved into a cliff, visited a volcano (where he dropped the Ring), and got to see a King crowned. Sort of an average life but respected for description of travel and ordinary 14th Century life. 1656 Patuxent, Maryland In an unusual and heinous criminal case, Judith Catchpole was accused of murdering her child. This was considered such a crime against womanhood that the General Provincial Court impaneled an all-female jury , so that Catchpole would be judged by a jury of her peers. Evidence was presented against her, but her testimony was believed. She stated with conviction she had never been pregnant, therefore she could not have committed this charged murder. She was acquitted. 1735 London. Robert Walpole, First Lord of the Treasury and functioning as “Prime Minister” becomes the first PM, acting or otherwise, to live at #10 Downing Street. (These days the PM lives at #10 and the Chancellor of the Exchequer lives next door at #11. They’ve been very close offices for nearly 300 years.) 1761 London. Speaking of British Leadership, this day marks the Coronation of King George III and Queen Charlotte, America’s last Royal Rulers. (They got better quarters than Downing Street.) George is German, from the House of Hanover, and his English is limited and accented. (As a side note, when he had been ruler of Hanover, his court musician had been George Friedrich Handel . Handel had asked permission to visit London years ago and had never gone back to Germany. Now Handel was acclaimed in England and in a gracious moment, George III forgave him for running out on him.) 1791 The London beat goes on. Birth of Michael Faraday, physicist. Grew up poor and had only a rudimentary education. Was apprenticed for 7 years to a bookbinder and seller and became a voracious reader, especially in sciences. From these humble roots, as a chemist he is noted for being the first to liquefy several gasses. He produced new metal alloys and varieties of glass for optical purposes. He developed laws of electrolysis and from observing gold particles in suspension theorized (later proved correct) that even smaller particles were acting upon them, which described quantum motion and was a foundation stone for nanoscience. That was chemistry; in physics Faraday he invented the dynamo, the transformer, the electric motor, and improved the battery. He demonstrated that a magnetic field induces a current in a moving conductor and the Faraday cage. The Farad as the base measurement of electrical capacitance is named in his honor. 1875 Senoja Varoni, Russian Empire (now Lithuania) Birth of Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, composer and artist. Grew up speaking Polish but began identifying as Lithuanian as an adult and learning to speak it. A musical prodigy was already playing piano at age three and sight-reading music at age 7. Learned to play several instruments and was able to attend the Warsaw Conservatory at the end of the 1890s. Pursued both music and painting and became a leading Lithuanian artist in the run-up to World War I. Visited St. Petersburg in late 1910, fell into a depression. Was hospitalized in Marki, Poland and died at 35 from pneumonia. While his paintings were known (and after Lithuanian independence in 1920, celebrated) much of his musical work was lost. Little by little this has been reconstructed so that his sonatas, symphonic songs, chamber music total almost 400 pieces. 1903 Brooklyn, NY Immigrant Italo Marchioni was a pastry man. He made pastry coronets to hold ice cream. On this day he was granted a patent for the ice cream cone. It was on sale at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair where other vendors (esp. Ernest Hamwi, a Syrian immigrant) also, yet independently, produced similar cones; the combination moved America away from using a dish and spoon for ice cream. 1910 Brighton, England On this day The Duke of York's Cinema opened. There were enough films being made and shown that the DoY could turn a profit on its shows. 120 years later TODAY it is still operating, making it the oldest continually operating cinema in Britain. 1912 Philadelphia, PA Edward Trowbridge Collins, nicknamed “Cocky” , played 2nd base. Eventually reached the 3000-career hit club and to this day is the one with the fewest homeruns (only 47 in a 24-year career.) Much of his career was with the Philadelphia As (much later, Oakland) and they were a force: from 1908-1912 they won the AL pennant 4 times and the World Series three times, and Cocky Collins was part of the reason. Lifetime .333 hitter, good glove and…..he was fast, really fast. He earned his nickname as a base stealing phenom, daring opposing pitchers and catchers to throw him out. Back on September 11 of 1912 he had a game for the ages, successfully stealing 6 bases. Today, on the 22nd, in front of the home fans, he did it again: 6 steals in one game. 6 steal games twice in one season: as far as I am aware, this has never been equaled. (“As far as I’m aware;“ Mokurai and baseball stat geeks make me careful 😊) 1937 The Shire, England and other English-speaking places. The first time this date was celebrated as the first International Hobbit Day and the birthdays of Bilbo and Frodo Baggins (as you already know) 1964 The Imperial Theater, Broadway, New York City "Fiddler on the Roof" opens, and fans keep visiting Anatyevka, Tevye, and softly sobbing over “Sunrise, Sunset” for 3242 performances 1980 Gdansk, Poland Delegates from 36 (illegal/underground) regional trade unions meet down by the docks and unite to form Solidarnosc (“Solidarity”) as a direct challenge to Communist control of the Polish economy. 1981 Washington, DC Credit where credit is due. President Ronald Reagan reaches past the Ivy League law schools and all their East Coast judges and this day is proud to have Sandra Day O'Connor (Stanford Law, California) seated on the US Supreme Court after Senate confirmation. Breaks a 192 year old gender barrier as the First woman on the High Court in US history (and Ruth Bader Ginsberg overlapped her as the 2nd woman.) 1994 Across America. Yes, MORE THAN a quarter century ago (so historic, right?) the premiere of the TV sitcom, ‘Friends’ (Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer) You are all allowed to feel old now. May all your News be Good, comforting and inspiring. Shalom. On the Lighter Side
Quote(s) of the Day
When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. — Thomas Jefferson (a favorite quote of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg) Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities. ― Voltaire, Questions sur les Miracles à M. Claparede, Professeur de Théologie à Genève, par un Proposant: Ou Extrait de Diverses Lettres de M. de Voltaire Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. ― Martin Luther King Jr. If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin. ― Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance. ― Robert F. Kennedy Dissents speak to a future age. It's not simply to say, 'My colleagues are wrong and I would do it this way.' But the greatest dissents do become court opinions and gradually over time their views become the dominant view. So that's the dissenter's hope: that they are writing not for today, but for tomorrow. — Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Required Pet Photo
Pressley sez: Hey republicans, you are all wet (and I know what I’m talking about)
Closing Notes
To all of our fellow resisters, rounderuppers and gnusies recovering from illness or injury lots of hugs, including {{{{oldhippiedude}}}}, {{{{Msdude}}}}, our Tuesday partner {{{{niftywriter}}}}, {{{{karij}}}}, {{{{ElizabethinNYC}}}}, {{{{Arel1}}}}, {{{{Crankylib}}}} and to our entire {{{{Gnuville}}}} community during this time of uncertainty.
Yosef 52’s latest guide to how to help get rid of republicans. Share this far and wide: Want to WIN? GET OUT THE VOTE! Here's EVERYTHING You Need to Do That.
Last night the Shade took a few pot shots at Billy Boi Barr: The Bill Is Due - Evening Shade, Monday
For those of you who think the Evening Shade is only a recurring attempt to be snarkily funny, it also a source for links to many (maybe most) of the daily deluge of political ads put out by organizations working to elect Joe Biden, as well as new anti-tRump parody songs (Randy Rainbow, Parody Project, etc). It’s also an evening place for Gnusies to gather and continue the day’s conversations.
We’ll let the dead play is out with this tune, performed thirty years and two days ago, at Madison Square Gardens. Except for the republican variety, I completely endorse this view.
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Disclaimer: Many of my true sentiments were not expressed, because I don’t want to get banned.


dailykos--2020-09-24--Like an Abused Woman, America Now Needs a Clear Exit Strategy — Away from Donald Trump

Political pundits are atwitter over Donald Trump ’ s pronouncement on Wednesday that there will be no peaceful transition of power if he loses the upcoming election .
He could not have been more explicit regarding his authoritarian intent .
And there can be no doubt now that we ’ ve entered the final phase in the rabid dogfight for American democracy .
Over the past couple of weeks , as I pondered the trajectory of my career that preceded political commentary , I came to the profound realization that my professional coaching experience has contributed greatly to a deeper @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Indeed , if America were a woman who had sought my counsel and recounted to me the horror she had endured over the last four years , I would have arrived at the unmistakable conclusion that I was dealing with a severely traumatized woman — one who had been mentally , emotionally , psychologically and , yes , legally abused .
What would have made her story especially compelling is that her abuser was a famous and powerful man — the leader of the free world , in fact — the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen .
References to America often elicit “ she/her ” pronouns ; we refer to “ her ” as often as we do “ she.
” Therefore , allow me the latitude to articulate the social contract America has with Donald Trump within the context of an intimate relationship .
Without a single doubt , the courtship began with a sublimely charismatic , highly inappropriate suitor , shrewdly cloaked in a public image crafted over several decades .
From the late 1980s , Donald had much of the press lapping up his “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Brenner from Vanity Fair , however , he was “ a carnival barker trying to fill his tent.
” In her now-famous 1990 essay “ The Gold Rush , ” in which she detailed an already-long litany of Donald ’ s lies and business shenanigans , Brenner reported one of his lawyers remarking , “ Donald is a believer in the big-lie theory .
If you say something again and again , people will believe you.
” Even back then , his roving eye was already on another woman despite his relationship with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Indeed , Brenner took prescient note that Donald had already been on the news shows offering his services to negotiate with the Russians .
But it was her reporting that Donald ’ s soon-to-be-ex first wife , Ivana , had tried coyly to warn America about his fascist proclivities that so incensed him that he subsequently sought out Brenner at Tavern on the Green restaurant and poured a glass of wine down her back .
What did Ivana divulge ?
That among Donald ’ s prized possessions was a collection of Hitler ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ which reveal Hitler ’ s extraordinary ability as a master propagandist .
Donald , according to Ivana , kept it in a bedside cabinet and would read it “ from time to time.
” Donald ’ s cousin John Walter , Ivana also confided , would click his heels and proclaim , “ Heil Hitler ” when he greeted Donald in his office , “ possibly as a family joke.
” Mary L. Trump , Donald ’ s niece , a trained clinical psychologist , recently removed any vestiges of illusion that America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Trump family , Mary revealed , was not one America should have aspired to have as “ in-laws.
” Mary ’ s tell-all book , which sold nearly one million copies on the day of its release , brought the receipts .
In meticulous detail , Mary revealed not only how her family “ created the world ’ s most dangerous man ” but also that the family is fully conscious of the monster their acute generational dysfunction and toxicity have created .
Mary is clear : Donald is a sociopath , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Fred .
Donald ’ s older sister Maryanne is also clear : Donald has “ no principles ” and “ you can ’ t trust him.
” From the 2016 election campaign , it should have been obvious to all that Donald ’ s character and temperament disqualified him as a suitable candidate for any kind of marriage with America .
He outrageously and crassly bragged that , by virtue of his fame , he felt entitled to grab women — married or not— “ by the pussy.
” He had already @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wives , fathering five children between them , without active involvement in their care .
Many people still don ’ t connect why past infidelity in relationships or the faithfulness of a potential candidate to their spouse is important , or even relevant , in selecting a president .
But if a person can not be faithful to their spouse , the one they claim to love enough to undertake a lifetime vow before God , then why would their vow to remain faithful to the Constitution — which matters less in real @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as in our personal relationships , we should be examining more closely how those “ rich , successful businessman ” became so , while looking for qualities that transcend circumstances — qualities that will guide actions and problem solving from season to season .
You know , “ for better or worse , for richer or poorer , in sickness and in health , forsaking all others… ” Qualities like integrity , honor , humility and generosity of spirit matter , as does the ability to serve others and a cause greater than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ make a person great .
These are the leadership qualities that will make America great again .
All the tells were evident before Donald became president that his racism , xenophobia , misogyny and pathological mendacity did not portend a good match — certainly not according to America ’ s stated ideals .
Yet , her archaic Electoral College system countersigned the “ marriage certificate , ” akin to heavy-handed parents with outdated views signing over their daughter like chattel in a marriage of contractual convenience .
Effectively , they overruled the rival @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , giving legitimacy to an increasingly gerrymandered system in which two of our last three presidents have not been a love match .
And , as happens with most ill-fated marriages , once the “ wedding festivities ” that comprised the presidential inauguration were over , it quickly became apparent to anyone unencumbered by rose-colored spectacles that America was fucked right from the honeymoon .
I could list the litany of offenses that Donald Trump has committed against America since January 20 , 2017 .
I could reference the more than 20,000 lies @ @ @ @ @ @ @ four years since entering office .
I could spotlight the Playboy bunnies and porn stars with whom he has had tawdry extramarital affairs and used election campaign funds to coerce their silence , plus 26 other women who have credibly accused him of sexual misconduct — even rape .
I could address the repulsively racist remarks , tweets and dog whistles that Donald has consistently deployed to goad neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups within his base toward subversive anarchy involving armed militias , which this country has not seen since the decades-long civil @ @ @ @ @ @ @ could present the xenophobic policies that Donald has initiated to fuel hatred and violence against people who look and worship differently than his white , fundamentalist Christian base .
I could demonstrate the ways in which Donald has infiltrated an already-corrupt Church and partners with them to propagate fascist disinformation campaigns that mimic their indoctrination methods .
I could highlight how Donald , instead of “ draining the swamp ” in Washington as he promised , has swapped out its water lizards for contemptible crocodiles , mutually intent on converting America into a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the fact that , by a complete sleight of hand executed by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein , Donald ’ s appointee , America still doesn ’ t know definitively whether Donald is a Russian agent .
I could underscore the exact lines within the Mueller Report which show that Donald received no exoneration from the crimes Mueller and his team were convinced had been committed by him .
I could reiterate the exhaustive list of associates directly linked to crimes committed on Donald ’ s behalf who have now been indicted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Office .
I could issue a reminder that , for reasons that were the furthest from a “ witch hunt , ” Donald was properly impeached by the House of Representatives but saved from removal by a hyper-partisan , Republican-controlled Senate that has abandoned its constitutional responsibilities as a “ check and balance ” on executive power .
I could showcase the truly extraordinary list of criminal indictments , lawsuits and prison time that Donald knows he will likely face once he is removed from office , which may well be the reason @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takeover ” of the federal government .
I could provide evidence of Donald ’ s intent to become America ’ s first authoritarian ruler , complete with secret police and a lawless attorney general committed to protecting the constitutionally unlawful acts of an unabridged mob boss touting himself the “ president of law and order.
” Indeed , I could cite the 200,000 Americans who now lay dead from Covid-19 as a result of Donald ’ s criminal negligence and willful disregard for human life — acts of democide — even as he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lives at risk of contracting coronavirus from which roughly 6.4 million Americans could die to achieve “ herd immunity.
” On and on .
And on .

Political pundits are atwitter over Donald Trump’s pronouncement on Wednesday that there will be no peaceful transition of power if he loses the upcoming election. He could not have been more explicit regarding his authoritarian intent. And there can be no doubt now that we’ve entered the final phase in the rabid dogfight for American democracy.
Over the past couple of weeks, as I pondered the trajectory of my career that preceded political commentary, I came to the profound realization that my professional coaching experience has contributed greatly to a deeper understanding of America’s political dilemma. Indeed, if America were a woman who had sought my counsel and recounted to me the horror she had endured over the last four years, I would have arrived at the unmistakable conclusion that I was dealing with a severely traumatized woman — one who had been mentally, emotionally, psychologically and, yes, legally abused. What would have made her story especially compelling is that her abuser is a famous and powerful man — the leader of the free world, in fact — the most lawless, corrupt president America has likely seen.
References to America often elicit “she/her” pronouns; we refer to “her” as often as we do “she.” Therefore, allow me the latitude to articulate the social contract America has with Donald Trump within the context of an intimate relationship.
Without a single doubt, the courtship began with a sublimely charismatic, highly inappropriate suitor, shrewdly cloaked in a public image crafted over several decades. From the late 1980s, Donald had much of the press lapping up his “successful businessman” schtick. To Marie Brenner from Vanity Fair, however, he was “a carnival barker trying to fill his tent.” In her now-famous 1990 essay “The Gold Rush,” in which she detailed an already-long litany of Donald’s lies and business shenanigans, Brenner reported one of his lawyers remarking, “Donald is a believer in the big-lie theory. If you say something again and again, people will believe you.” Even back then, his roving eye was already on another woman despite his relationship with America. Her name was Russia. Indeed, Brenner took prescient note that Donald had already been on the news shows offering his services to negotiate with the Russians. But it was her reporting that Donald’s soon-to-be-ex first wife, Ivana, had tried coyly to warn America about his fascist proclivities that so incensed him that he subsequently sought out Brenner at Tavern on the Green restaurant and poured a glass of wine down her back.
What did Ivana divulge? That among Donald’s prized possessions was a collection of Hitler’s speeches, My New Order, which reveal Hitler’s extraordinary ability as a master propagandist. Donald, according to Ivana, kept it in a bedside cabinet and would read it “from time to time.” Donald’s cousin John Walter, Ivana also confided, would click his heels and proclaim, “Heil Hitler” when he greeted Donald in his office, “possibly as a family joke.”
Mary L. Trump, Donald’s niece, a trained clinical psychologist, recently removed any vestiges of illusion that America had bagged a “trophy husband.” The Trump family, Mary revealed, was not one America should have aspired to have as “in-laws.” Mary’s tell-all book, which sold nearly one million copies on the day of its release, brought the receipts. In meticulous detail, Mary revealed not only how her family “created the world’s most dangerous man” but also that the family is fully conscious of the monster their acute generational dysfunction and toxicity have created. Mary is clear: Donald is a sociopath, patterned after—and molded by—his own sociopathic father, Fred. Donald’s older sister Maryanne is also clear: Donald has “no principles” and “you can’t trust him.”
From the 2016 election campaign, it should have been obvious to all that Donald’s character and temperament disqualified him as a suitable candidate for any kind of marriage with America. He outrageously and crassly bragged that, by virtue of his fame, he felt entitled to grab women — married or not— “by the pussy.” He had already been unfaithful to each of his three wives, fathering five children between them, without active involvement in their care.
Many people still don’t connect why past infidelity in relationships or the faithfulness of a potential candidate to their spouse is important, or even relevant, in selecting a president. But if a person cannot be faithful to their spouse, the one they claim to love enough to undertake a lifetime vow before God, then why would their vow to remain faithful to the Constitution — which matters less in real terms — be believable?
Perhaps, as in our personal relationships, we should be examining more closely how those “rich, successful businessman” became so, while looking for qualities that transcend circumstances — qualities that will guide actions and problem solving from season to season. You know, “for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, forsaking all others…” Qualities like integrity, honor, humility and generosity of spirit matter, as does the ability to serve others and a cause greater than oneself. These are the qualities that make a person great. These are the leadership qualities that will make America great again.
All the tells were evident before Donald became president that his racism, xenophobia, misogyny and pathological mendacity did not portend a good match — certainly not according to America’s stated ideals. Yet, her archaic Electoral College system countersigned the “marriage certificate,” akin to heavy-handed parents with outdated views signing over their daughter like chattel in a marriage of contractual convenience. Effectively, they overruled the rival suitor America had chosen by popular vote, giving legitimacy to an increasingly gerrymandered system in which two of our last three presidents have not been a love match. And, as happens with most ill-fated marriages, once the “wedding festivities” that comprised the presidential inauguration were over, it quickly became apparent to anyone unencumbered by rose-colored spectacles that America was fucked right from the honeymoon.
America’s Grounds for Divorce
I could list the litany of offenses that Donald Trump has committed against America since January 20, 2017.
I could reference the more than 20,000 lies he has told her in the past four years since entering office.
I could spotlight the Playboy bunnies and porn stars with whom he has had tawdry extramarital affairs and used election campaign funds to coerce their silence, plus 26 other women who have credibly accused him of sexual misconduct — even rape.
I could address the repulsively racist remarks, tweets and dog whistles that Donald has consistently deployed to goad neo-Nazis and white supremacist groups within his base toward subversive anarchy involving armed militias, which this country has not seen since the decades-long civil rights movement of the 1950s–1960s.
I could present the xenophobic policies that Donald has initiated to fuel hatred and violence against people who look and worship differently than his white, fundamentalist Christian base.
I could demonstrate the ways in which Donald has infiltrated an already-corrupt Church and partners with them to propagate fascist disinformation campaigns that mimic their indoctrination methods.
I could highlight how Donald, instead of “draining the swamp” in Washington as he promised, has swapped out its water lizards for contemptible crocodiles, mutually intent on converting America into a full-blown kleptocracy.
I could point to the fact that, by a complete sleight of hand executed by former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, Donald’s appointee, America still doesn’t know definitively whether Donald is a Russian agent.
I could underscore the exact lines within the Mueller Report which show that Donald received no exoneration from the crimes Mueller and his team were convinced had been committed by him.
I could reiterate the exhaustive list of associates directly linked to crimes committed on Donald’s behalf who have now been indicted or imprisoned since Donald entered the Oval Office.
I could issue a reminder that, for reasons that were the furthest from a “witch hunt,” Donald was properly impeached by the House of Representatives but saved from removal by a hyper-partisan, Republican-controlled Senate that has abandoned its constitutional responsibilities as a “check and balance” on executive power.
I could showcase the truly extraordinary list of criminal indictments, lawsuits and prison time that Donald knows he will likely face once he is removed from office, which may well be the reason he seeks to execute a “hostile takeover” of the federal government.
I could provide evidence of Donald’s intent to become America’s first authoritarian ruler, complete with secret police and a lawless attorney general committed to protecting the constitutionally unlawful acts of an unabridged mob boss touting himself the “president of law and order.”
Indeed, I could cite the 200,000 Americans who now lay dead from Covid-19 as a result of Donald’s criminal negligence and willful disregard for human life — acts of democide — even as he determines to put another 215 million American lives at risk of contracting coronavirus from which roughly 6.4 million Americans could die to achieve “herd immunity.”
On and on. And on.


dailykos--2020-09-24--Psst!  Where are we probably headed?  A fight about recusal.

I ’ ve read lots of notably vague “ battle plans ” and delaying tactics for Democrats to employ against Republicans ’ plans to confirm a replacement justice for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg .
To be frank , the talk is largely masturbatory because the Republicans have the necessary votes .
There is one immediate hope : a disqualifying scandal could arise regarding Trump ’ s first nominee .
In the past , nominees for various positions have failed because of random disclosures ( pot smoking , picayune tax cheating , etc. )
.
And the timing around this could @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( assumption ! )
a Biden admin and Democratic controlled Senate .
It is our only hope , really .
But I would n't put much faith in that happening ( see Kavanaugh nomination ) .
So .
.
.
the unmentioned thing now is that the confirmation hearings for Trump ’ s nominee will likely turn on an argument that she should publicly recuse herself from any Supreme Court litigation concerning the 2020 election .
Initially , this is important because Trump has already publicly stated that he considers this confirmation of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ help Trump in his efforts to win the 2020 election .
Roughly stated , Supreme Justices agree that they should recuse if ( citing to the lower court standard ) her “ impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
” ( 28 U. S. C .
§455 ( a ) . )
.
That lower standard — not actual conflict , not actual wrongdoing — but simply whether the justices impartiality “ might reasonably be questioned , ” is plainly met with this next Trump nominee and Trump ’ s own comments .
But note @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 29 USC 455 ( a ) to be voluntary and that any conflict/recusal decision is left entirely to the non-reviewable discretion of the individual justice .
So , at some point during the new nominee ’ s confirmation , I predict that the true public pressure campaign will get her to publicly promise to recuse from any 2020 presidential election cases before the Supreme Court .
It would be the right decision , and the minimum that the next nominee should promise .

I’ve read lots of notably vague “battle plans” and delaying tactics for Democrats to employ against Republicans’ plans to confirm a replacement justice for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. To be frank, the talk is largely masturbatory because the Republicans have the necessary votes. There is one immediate hope : a disqualifying scandal could arise regarding Trump’s first nominee. In the past, nominees for various positions have failed because of random disclosures (pot smoking, picayune tax cheating, etc.). And the timing around this could push the nomination to the time of (assumption!) a Biden admin and Democratic controlled Senate. It is our only hope, really. But I wouldn't put much faith in that happening (see Kavanaugh nomination).
So . . . the unmentioned thing now is that the confirmation hearings for Trump’s nominee will likely turn on an argument that she should publicly recuse herself from any Supreme Court litigation concerning the 2020 election.
Initially, this is important because Trump has already publicly stated that he considers this confirmation of his justice to be important precisely to help Trump in his efforts to win the 2020 election.
So, let’s analyze that.
Roughly stated, Supreme Justices agree that they should recuse if (citing to the lower court standard) her “impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” (28 U. S. C. §455(a).). That lower standard — not actual conflict, not actual wrongdoing — but simply whether the Justice’s impartiality “might reasonably be questioned,” is plainly met with this next Trump nominee and Trump’s own comments.
But note that Supreme Court Justices consider the application of 29 USC 455(a) to be voluntary and that any conflict/recusal decision is left entirely to the non-reviewable discretion of the individual justice.
So, at some point during the new nominee’s confirmation, I predict that the true public pressure campaign will be to get her to publicly promise to recuse from any 2020 presidential election cases before the Supreme Court.
It would be the right decision, and the minimum that the next nominee should promise.