Who got to Dick Durbin? What's he thinking? Does any Democrat give a damn about this country? JFC! 🤦♀️ It's exhausting. (And "Beerheart Brett" is perfect. 😂)
I agree. However, I have both directly experienced and witnessed the unimpeded expansion of state corruption develop and flourish on both sides of the Atlantic for nigh on a half century. Any attempts at calling it out earlier on were met with accusations of naïveté at best and being an attention seeking fantasist at worst. And I and my partner were blacklisted in media work in Britain for our inability to just shut up and toe the blatant corruption in high places line. I wonder daily just what it will take to rid ourselves of these vile pestilence of crooks and sex pests preying on their citizens and ruining our societies. 🔥🔥🔥
That seems to be the question for the ages Monnina. How we got here is buried under so many layers of falsehoods and misinformation and I share your point. So much started with alternative facts. Shocked at how many of our fellow American’s beliefs are so baked in.
The problem is the lack of education in civics and government so most people don't know how things are supposed to work, they have no idea of critical thinking so they blindly follow whatever they're told that appeals to their own ideas and prejudices. That's why those classes were the first ones dropped from school curriculums when the GOP started undermining education with their constant cuts.
Until people take the time to learn and not take the media as gospel we won't get out of this slide into authoritarianism.
Agreed. It is certainly a major failing that needs rectification. I am sure you are familiar with the history of Orson Welles’ Radio broadcast of H.G.Wells War of the Worlds in 1938. Radio was still in its infancy as a mediated form and thousands believed that what they were hearing was a real time news report rather than fiction. I think too many individuals are unable to easily discriminate between visually mediated reports and visual representations. As so many in modern society are semi literate the power of the image and individuals vulnerability to its manipulative deployment is perilously underestimated.
Once we sold out to K street and let Gingrich make Congress a casino for corruption...
Oh, never mind milktoast Durbin THAT kind of " leadership is also how we got here. Grandma's tittie is in the wringer with these a-holes. Will the last of you oh-shucks dudes turn off the lights on your way out?
It makes sense: everything is politicized, even legitimate inquiry and process. I can hear rhe screams of "election interference!" now even though nothings going to happen.
Unlike "The Pelican Brief," the justices weren't bumped off, but bought off.
Absolutely, the ramped up constant stress of the terror of Covid & now the gut wrenching fear of completely losing our democracy is going to shave a few years off all our lives; especially those of us in the over 60 age group. The continuous flood of cortisol is really bad.
Democrats care about the country. We don't play tit-for-tat with impeachments or censures or policies. Democrats are all in on opposing the conservative baloney spewed on Fox News and other spin networks. The Democrats are here. It would be nice if everyone heard them, but the lazy media are playing games.
I gave a reason, and you're not buying it. I say that the Democrats for reasons like lack of bipartisan outrage, or enough votes, won't put on a political stunt like the GOP would. Democrats don't waste the time on theatrical propaganda. They don't want to stoop to that level. Durbin doesn't want to expend resources on theater.
Durban gives the impression that the committee which he chairs is just sticking his head in the sand. It’s not a matter of doing what that othe team does, being performative, it’s a matter of giving the impression you’re alive and aware of the situation. With or without proof, he is playing ostrich.
I agree, that our Dem representatives don’t need to wallow in the mud or waste time & resources on theater that they know won’t get the votes for success; but they damned sure need to play a lot more hard ball, & learn to play the long game like the Rethugs do to such devastating effect.
They may be present but they are still playing way to nicey nicey with the hateful conniving rethugs!! I don’t want the Dems to stoop to breaking laws or totally flouting the rules like McConnell, et al; but I do want them to get tough, play hard ball, fight fire with fire. Anything that is just a “custom” & not an actual rule of Congress needs to be dispensed with if need be to get the job done, dammit.
When McConnell steps down, then I don’t care if tradition says that a Republican has to be appointed to replace him, to hell with that. The Govenor of his state should have been able to appoint a Dem to serve out the remainder of his term. But I’ve been listening to Amicus recently & it seems like the KY legislature stripped that power to appoint, & more from the Gov
That kind of crap needs to get a LOT more airtime.
All of this is exhausting. I keep adding more people to my “please stroke out and die” list. That list is extremely crowded now and there appears to be no end in sight. I’m adding to the list daily.
He’s one of my senators and I’m so disappointed and upset. I sent him an email expressing my concerns, but I doubt it will do much good. I could understand his reluctance to call Alito on the carpet when it was the upside down American flag flown for a few days, regardless of his unbelievable excuses, but the addition of the nationalist Christian (Nat-C) flag, there’s more than enough reason to hold him accountable.
Dick Durban’s slap in the face to accountability leads me to speculate that the cabal of monied special interests really does have the political system, and all three branches of government, sown up and in their pockets. And all of the public rhetorical pronouncements from Democrats is pure performance art.
The only checks and balances the alt-right court is interested in is their bank accounts. We have 3 branches of government that are literally shrugging their shoulders saying, "so what." The corruption is deep. It's the underbelly of our fake free capitalism court that tells us to bend over and take it up the ass. All the while asking, was that good for you? They got paid. Fuck us. Every fucking goddamn day. We have a Christofascist problem in America. And it starts at the top. Well, hey what's important is a black man in Texas was given 70 years in prison for spitting on a cop. But, the white man that shot a BLM protester got a pardon. We are so fucked up. No one is coming to rescue us. We have to vote Blue and hold their feet the fire.
That horrendous example of blatant Jim Crow policing is just sickening.
There’s also the black woman in Texas who voted while still on parole (who thought she was cleared to vote) with no intent to break the law gets 5 yrs in prison; while a white man who was in state govt (or some position like that)& deliberately voted numerous times, got a slap on the wrist!! Talk about unequal application of justice.
When they are sitting in a concentration camp cell they can say ,Well I Myself ,at least I didn’t go low . Gonna be nice being so upstanding in a friggen gulag !
I have written Dick Durbin an email and will write another one. He is not just the person who is supposed to put Alito in check, but as an Illinoisian, he is one of my elected Representatives. I am about to let him know that I don't care who is running against him, if he doesn't start to try to impeach Alito and Thomas I am not voting for him again. I will support any real Democrat that runs against him.
That is great! I am in Germany and calls cost a lot. So, I write. I have a form letter that I alter each day based on things I read, and then I send this. I am going on the nag principal. The thing is that they have staff that keeps track of issues, so I hope I am racking them up on this. I am ready to start a write in campaign if Dick Durbin does not stop just doing nothing. I am livid over him being in the chair and doing absolutely nothing. However, I am trying to write him encouraging him to be on the right side of history, because it is pretty obvious to me that Trump is setting things up to 1) steal the election using the court if he does not win, and they are setting themselves up to give it to. him, 2) he is setting the whole USA up to get ready for a fascistic dictatorship, and apparently too many people are misguided enough to think that it is best not to spend too much time thinking about politics.
I didn’t realize until recently that I now live in Iran where the religious zealots get to tell me how to live, what I can and can’t do and rule every inch of my body. These motherfucking Bullshit NOT Christian lying tools are the very essence of projection and hatred. Everything they believe is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and has nothing to do with religion or spirituality. And Now a Supreme Court judge while ignoring the basics of the constitution can’t remember how and why the pilgrims and others left their homelands to come here where they could practice their personal faith free from the constraints of government. My rage meter just broke.
If women can’t have abortions or even birth control, then men should have mandatory vasectomies. After all, they’re reversible, aren’t they? And one isn’t, well - too bad. Just like, if you get pregnant and you don’t want to be - too bad?
I’ve been thinking of offering to support an abortion ban (every life is sacred, you know) as soon as these asshats add on a total ban on guns and the death penalty. I’m guessing their love of life ends the same fucking minute an independent breath is taken. Fucking hypocrites!
Things Haley said about Trump. I think she meant them.
“He’s totally unhinged.”
“If you are going to hit our military, you are not qualified to be president, period.”
“If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don’t deserve a driver’s license, let alone being president of the United States.”
“Anybody that can’t call out a dictator, that’s a problem . . . [Putin’s] emboldened by Trump because Trump is not willing to stand up for our allies.”
“Trump just sided with a thug who kills his political opponents. He just sided with a man who goes and arrests American journalists and holds them hostage. He sided with him over the allies who stood with us at 9/11.”
“He said that he would stand with Putin and encourage him to invade our allies . . . Trump would side with a dictator who kills his political opponents . . . Trump is going to side with a madman who’s made no bones about the fact he wants to destroy America.”
“This is a man that put us $8 trillion in debt . . . This is a man who praised China’s president Xi a dozen times after China gave us COVID. This is a man who now wants to go and put 10 percent tariffs across the board, raising taxes on every single American.”
“He’s just trying to control as much as he can control, but we don’t want a king in America.”
“Every bit of it is disgusting. To sit there and mock my husband for not being with me on the campaign trail because he is deployed and serving our country . . . The reality is, the closest [Trump] has come to harm’s way is a golf ball hitting him on a golf cart.”
“Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We cannot win a general election that way.”
“Every single thing that Donald Trump has said or put on TV has been a lie.”
Simple answer: Nikki is a LIAR. She fooled the millions of voters and donors who believed her. History will remember her as another of the tiny minded frauds who sold their soul and sacred honor to a dumbshit conman. Unbelievable poor judgment. Can you imagine the roar of approval if she endorsed Biden? She would be the hero of 75% of the Nation. Instead she chose to dive headfirst into Donald's cesspool of moral filth.
True. Every last one of these fucking GOPs are lying asshats that don’t qualify as members of humanity. I’ve never felt such rage and loathing in my life before.
And she might have wound up as the Republican nominee if Trump's dementia gets undeniable and further extreme. Now even Haley voters may not trust her.
Well many Republicans trust unworthy people and sources. It wouldn't be unusual for most of them, unfortunately. But you are absolutely right if we're talking about rational people.
She may be hoping to be his VP nominee...who knows? It wouldn't surprise me about either of them. It's all so exhausting.
The fact that she endorsed him doesn't surprise me. I never believed that she was any kind of an anti-MAGA to begin with. What I am kind of surprised at is I thought it wouldn't be this early....I thought she'd hold out for a quid pro quo...maybe she got it and we just don't know what it is yet.
Agreed. I thought she might be a raisin. As did millions of her voters and money supporters. But she has now endorsed a turd. So she has confirmed for the world that she is also a turd. "When you mix raisins with turds, they are all turds." Charlie Munger.
Does she think there will still be free and fair elections if shit-for-brains wins? I thought he was planning on staying and appointing his own successor…and I don’t think it would be her!
Do any of them actually understand what "communism" is? It's the red scare and McCarthyism all over again. Even the so called communists don't really do communism anymore. 🙄🤷♀️ There's no decency left on the right.
No, they don’t know the communist philosophy, & they really have no clue what Marxism means. They’re just scary words trump throws out to mean evil, bad, take your guns.
“Greed is good”. Remember that quote from the movie WALL STREET-1988 Oscar winning film with Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko? And so it began in the age of Reagan.
The only justice will be if tRUMP wins and they get royally fucked over as they so deserve. I hate these vile, despicable creatures as much or more than I hate their fucking Dear Leader. I pray every day for a painful death for him and all of his supporters. And I’m not fucking religious. I want them all FUCKING DEAD!!!!!!!!!!😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
I believe that she now lets her ambition do the talking. To do the right thing was too difficult for Ms. Haley, that is. to endorse Biden. She would have no political future in her outlaw party. She had a choice between choosing Biden or choosing "chaos," in Donald Trump. She chose "Nikki Haley."
So she says she'll vote for Trump, despite all his 'flaws.' She offers the same bogus rationale many use, which is "Biden is a disaster." How is he a disaster? He presides over the best economy and lowest unemployment in anyone's memory. He got a handle on the pandemic when all Trump had to offer was 'take bleach' or 'horse medications.' Millions died, needlessly. So now we're all bent out of shape over 3% inflation because, well, 2%. It's still the lowest rate in the developed world, and even then it has more to do with broken supply chains and Covid than investing in the future of America. The list goes on....
It has a whole lot to do with toxic capitalism & corporate greed, oil execs colluding with Russia & the Saudis to cut production & keep prices high, etc
Looks like someone got to Flippy Nikki and now she's calling on her supporters to vote for load blowing Donny. Many former cabinet members and others who worked for him during his term have bailed and emphasized how incompetent and what a fucking moron he really is. Why Haley won't disassociate herself from this never ending shit storm could mean she's hoping for that VP nod.
This is in the top ten sickening things I’ve seen in my 68 years. Like I said about Clarence Thomas, Democrats on the Hill should be investigating Alito so that when we turn everything blue in November, they will be close to ready to impeach this dude too. The notion that Everything Trump Touches Dies is what keeps me sane. VOTE!
It takes 60 votes to convict and remove a public official in the Senate. I just don't think that's going to happen. But I agree, VOTE, because there are a lot of good laws that can get passed and good judges who can be appointed.
It requires a TWO THIRDS vote in the U.S. Senate to convict an impeached public official, which would result in the official's removal from office. I agree that Dick Durbin and his committee could begin to investigate a Supreme Court Justice before the election in November, but it would require SIXTY-SEVEN votes in the Senate to convict. How many definite Democrats do we have in the Senate now, and how many would we need to get to 67 votes after the election?
Okay media——get your shit together and report on EVERYTHING Jeff has pointed out and we ALL agree with! And Durbin, etc……get your head(s)out of wherever the heck it is and take a stand!!!!
I have a neighbor flying a solid black flag, which I find means ‘ No Quarter Given’. In other words, if you’re not white, you’re going to be executed. How’s that for a warm fuzzy for the neighborhood? It infuriates me. Especially when those flying all th3se flags are white alright, white trash.
I agree.Alito must be impeached.Recusal is not enough.Any decision-ANY decision that he makes is tainted.Not only decisions that involve Trump but all of his decisions are disingenuous at the least and out and out treasonous at the most.That he would thumb his nose at Americans and throw out a big F U to the rule of law makes him ineligible to serve.Period.
I’m al for impeaching Alito and Thomas, or at the very least investigating their misconduct. But seriously, is impeachment really a thing under the constitution? It seems that the founders in their naïveté created a mechanism that simply cannot work. I looked it up. The House has initiated impeachment proceedings more than 60 times, passing articles of impeachment only 21 impeachments. Of the three presidents, one cabinet member, one senator and 18 judges, only eight federal judges have been removed from office by impeachment. Chances of this House initiating impeachment of either justice? Zero. Chance of getting 9 GOP senators to vote for their impeachment? Zero.
Once Mitch gave Trump two passes in thoroughly documented cases of corruption and insurrection, Article II, Section 4 ceased to be meaningful.
The judiciary--in the form of the Supreme Court--was considered an afterthought back in 1800, not taken seriously enough to have its own space to hold hearings. Justices rode circuit. It wasn't until Marbury vs Madison that the principle that the Court could rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress was established. Today the Court is a powerful force, which makes it even more imperative that it adheres to strict ethical standards. It doesn't.
Agree that SCOTUS should adhere to strict ethical standards, but seems to have none. And short of the toothless impeachment tiger, they seem immune to legal standards as well. Perhaps thats why they seem so intrigued by Trump’s claims of immunity.
IMHO as an ordinary citizen, but one who has been actively learning more about the courts over the last 3-4 yrs, Marbury v Madison judicial review, is bullshit, a blatant power grab from another supposedly equal branch of govt. The shadow docket & the unexplained decisions it produces are more BS, & then the habit the court has gotten into of reaching out & choosing cases to hear & even rewriting the questions asked in the cases is more BS.
The scotus has gathered unto itself all of the power & said to hell with the other two branches.
We must push Biden to see this for the existencial crisis that it is & expand the court
If the POS Supreme Court figures out a way to give POS Donald J Trump immunity for everything he has ever done, and him alone, I predict a Civil War. Trump, Republicans, Supreme Court Justices, it doesn't matter. They will not be able to outrun the hatred of the American people.
One huge mistake the R’s are making (among so many!) is assuming that Democrats don’t own guns. Oh. Yes. We. Do. Just because we don’t go around displaying and fetishizing them doesn’t mean we don’t have them. Arm up, people. If they think I’m going to go meekly into their pen, they can think again.
Yeah, no. My fucking asshat 20+’year AF vet brother believes whatever the fucking cheetoh says is constitutional. My prick brother had threatened my life (restraining order awarded) and has been involved in a Chutkan swatting incident — he’s awaiting trial. He swears the military is behind MAGA. I believe him. If you don’t, you’re either fucking insane or lying about your service. FUCK THE US MILITARY!!! FUCK TRUMP!!! FUCK EVERY DAMN ASSHOLE WHO HAS EVER THOUGHT ABOUT VOTING FOR THE GOP!!! I finally understand why so many chant Death to America. And I agree.
That’s exactly what I’ve been screaming at anyone who will listen, we need to fear our own military. If you go on other platforms like Rumble, sub-Reddits, Patriots for Donald, etc
the violent shit they say on them is hair curling & many of them are vets.
The Pentagon has admitted on 60 Minutes that they have a real problem with the maga ideology & that they’re
“working on” weeding them out; but also admitted the process was going too slow.
I certainly don’t believe ALL of the active military or even the majority are insurrectionists in their hearts, but I do believe there are way more of them than anyone wants to admit.
As far as I know, they are still stalling on a decision. Americans are angry that the majority of the Supreme Court Justices have been bought off by Trump and others.
For the four years he attended Jesuit Georgetown Prep, Gorsuch wrote a regular item in the school rag entitled "Fascism Forever". As far as I know, nobody expressed interest in this at his confirmation hearings. (Of course, Kavanaugh attended the same fascist mill.) Clarence Thomas's motto appears to be "I'm on board, now pull up the rope ladder."
Horrible but not surprising. Gorsuch grew up a few blocks from me, went to a Catholic boys' school called Regis, known for turning out arrogant little shitweasels.
They knew it, they just thought it would backfire on them if they focused on his "youthful indiscretions." Also Dems are under the impression that no one would understand what was wrong with it. For example, Alan Greenspan skated through his confirmations without a single question about his lifetime devotion to Ayn Rand's Objectivist ("Altruism is evil") humbug. If he spent a college year as a member of the Socialist Workers Party, things might have been different.
Durbin has been compromised for....decades by repubs. Dick looked like the dummy on Sammy the Ventriloquists lap who mouthed words ....'Americans understand what he did....let it go" And Alitos mouth didn't even move....😜
and here we are, watching our democracy erode and fade into the sunset...people need to do their god damn fucking jobs and hold these cunts accountable!!!...our entire system is breaking down right before our eyes, and apparently there just aren't enough public officials who actually give a fuck!...on either side!!!!!!!!
Durbin must call for a hearing. This makes p2 purposeful instances of Alito identifying as a pro- insurrectionist. Since Thomas has ‘protection’ from being called out, Alito is the obvious example. Go after him. This is how MTG got her power - a few comments at a time until there was no pushback. Durbin must stand up. How many more symbols will it take to convince Dems this is for real and for keeps. Already Trump is setting the stage - saying Biden had a hit squad - it only inflames the crazies. You have to stop it now!
Weak kneed responses and inaction is what robs the base of morale. We vote Democrats in so they have a majority and what do they do to fight MAGA?? I dunno..Flood Durbins office with calls? If Weak Judiciary Comm. isnt going to deal with SCOTUS Demand another 50 Federal judges get confirmed (Dems confirmed 200 thus far).
Who got to Dick Durbin? What's he thinking? Does any Democrat give a damn about this country? JFC! 🤦♀️ It's exhausting. (And "Beerheart Brett" is perfect. 😂)
We can’t allow the normalization of this level of corruption.
I agree. However, I have both directly experienced and witnessed the unimpeded expansion of state corruption develop and flourish on both sides of the Atlantic for nigh on a half century. Any attempts at calling it out earlier on were met with accusations of naïveté at best and being an attention seeking fantasist at worst. And I and my partner were blacklisted in media work in Britain for our inability to just shut up and toe the blatant corruption in high places line. I wonder daily just what it will take to rid ourselves of these vile pestilence of crooks and sex pests preying on their citizens and ruining our societies. 🔥🔥🔥
That seems to be the question for the ages Monnina. How we got here is buried under so many layers of falsehoods and misinformation and I share your point. So much started with alternative facts. Shocked at how many of our fellow American’s beliefs are so baked in.
The problem is the lack of education in civics and government so most people don't know how things are supposed to work, they have no idea of critical thinking so they blindly follow whatever they're told that appeals to their own ideas and prejudices. That's why those classes were the first ones dropped from school curriculums when the GOP started undermining education with their constant cuts.
Until people take the time to learn and not take the media as gospel we won't get out of this slide into authoritarianism.
Agreed. It is certainly a major failing that needs rectification. I am sure you are familiar with the history of Orson Welles’ Radio broadcast of H.G.Wells War of the Worlds in 1938. Radio was still in its infancy as a mediated form and thousands believed that what they were hearing was a real time news report rather than fiction. I think too many individuals are unable to easily discriminate between visually mediated reports and visual representations. As so many in modern society are semi literate the power of the image and individuals vulnerability to its manipulative deployment is perilously underestimated.
I’ve been saying this almost exactly as you have written it today for years and years ,nice to see it coming from another human being!🫡
I was beginning to think I was alone in that thinking. Thank you for restoring some faith In people.
My pleasure D , It’s such a common sense thing,you form your opinion on everything when you’re young and given the correct tools and knowledge. ✌️
Mandatory one year civil service.
Good start but the total picture, including the roles of federal and states, also need to be covered.
Example:states not in compliance with the ADA rules can be fined until they're in compliance.
I get an email from someone called Laura K who perfectly skewers the ridiculous perdiferous government in the UK. I recommend it.
Once we sold out to K street and let Gingrich make Congress a casino for corruption...
Oh, never mind milktoast Durbin THAT kind of " leadership is also how we got here. Grandma's tittie is in the wringer with these a-holes. Will the last of you oh-shucks dudes turn off the lights on your way out?
Too late.
It makes sense: everything is politicized, even legitimate inquiry and process. I can hear rhe screams of "election interference!" now even though nothings going to happen.
Unlike "The Pelican Brief," the justices weren't bumped off, but bought off.
Agreed 100%
"It's exhausting."
Indeed, Susan. I'm so fucking tired of this shit.
It is taking a toll on my health. I am worn out as well.
Absolutely, the ramped up constant stress of the terror of Covid & now the gut wrenching fear of completely losing our democracy is going to shave a few years off all our lives; especially those of us in the over 60 age group. The continuous flood of cortisol is really bad.
Democrats care about the country. We don't play tit-for-tat with impeachments or censures or policies. Democrats are all in on opposing the conservative baloney spewed on Fox News and other spin networks. The Democrats are here. It would be nice if everyone heard them, but the lazy media are playing games.
Still doesn’t explain dickless Durbin’s dithering, do-nothing dip-shittery. Who’s bought him off?
Dickless Durbin 🤣
I gave a reason, and you're not buying it. I say that the Democrats for reasons like lack of bipartisan outrage, or enough votes, won't put on a political stunt like the GOP would. Democrats don't waste the time on theatrical propaganda. They don't want to stoop to that level. Durbin doesn't want to expend resources on theater.
Durban gives the impression that the committee which he chairs is just sticking his head in the sand. It’s not a matter of doing what that othe team does, being performative, it’s a matter of giving the impression you’re alive and aware of the situation. With or without proof, he is playing ostrich.
I agree, that our Dem representatives don’t need to wallow in the mud or waste time & resources on theater that they know won’t get the votes for success; but they damned sure need to play a lot more hard ball, & learn to play the long game like the Rethugs do to such devastating effect.
They may be present but they are still playing way to nicey nicey with the hateful conniving rethugs!! I don’t want the Dems to stoop to breaking laws or totally flouting the rules like McConnell, et al; but I do want them to get tough, play hard ball, fight fire with fire. Anything that is just a “custom” & not an actual rule of Congress needs to be dispensed with if need be to get the job done, dammit.
When McConnell steps down, then I don’t care if tradition says that a Republican has to be appointed to replace him, to hell with that. The Govenor of his state should have been able to appoint a Dem to serve out the remainder of his term. But I’ve been listening to Amicus recently & it seems like the KY legislature stripped that power to appoint, & more from the Gov
That kind of crap needs to get a LOT more airtime.
All of this is exhausting. I keep adding more people to my “please stroke out and die” list. That list is extremely crowded now and there appears to be no end in sight. I’m adding to the list daily.
And unfortunately they’re probably going to cause US to stroke out.
He’s one of my senators and I’m so disappointed and upset. I sent him an email expressing my concerns, but I doubt it will do much good. I could understand his reluctance to call Alito on the carpet when it was the upside down American flag flown for a few days, regardless of his unbelievable excuses, but the addition of the nationalist Christian (Nat-C) flag, there’s more than enough reason to hold him accountable.
Susan, its just another distraction to take away from the main issue?
All this energy being expended on Alito, only helps to divert attention awAy from the republican nominee.
Win the election in November with a majority, and then take care of business.
And as every one here on Substack has probably heard me say, now for the THOUSANDTH TIME
And The Coup Continues
Dick Durban’s slap in the face to accountability leads me to speculate that the cabal of monied special interests really does have the political system, and all three branches of government, sown up and in their pockets. And all of the public rhetorical pronouncements from Democrats is pure performance art.
The only checks and balances the alt-right court is interested in is their bank accounts. We have 3 branches of government that are literally shrugging their shoulders saying, "so what." The corruption is deep. It's the underbelly of our fake free capitalism court that tells us to bend over and take it up the ass. All the while asking, was that good for you? They got paid. Fuck us. Every fucking goddamn day. We have a Christofascist problem in America. And it starts at the top. Well, hey what's important is a black man in Texas was given 70 years in prison for spitting on a cop. But, the white man that shot a BLM protester got a pardon. We are so fucked up. No one is coming to rescue us. We have to vote Blue and hold their feet the fire.
That horrendous example of blatant Jim Crow policing is just sickening.
There’s also the black woman in Texas who voted while still on parole (who thought she was cleared to vote) with no intent to break the law gets 5 yrs in prison; while a white man who was in state govt (or some position like that)& deliberately voted numerous times, got a slap on the wrist!! Talk about unequal application of justice.
I’m starting to lean that way,it’s just so friggen one sided it must be in the bag!🤬
I'm calling him today.
Dems do nothing. Their non-response behavior will put Trump in the WH. No doubt
When they are sitting in a concentration camp cell they can say ,Well I Myself ,at least I didn’t go low . Gonna be nice being so upstanding in a friggen gulag !
I have written Dick Durbin an email and will write another one. He is not just the person who is supposed to put Alito in check, but as an Illinoisian, he is one of my elected Representatives. I am about to let him know that I don't care who is running against him, if he doesn't start to try to impeach Alito and Thomas I am not voting for him again. I will support any real Democrat that runs against him.
Good for you. I called all of my Congressional reps & the WH last week & told them they’d better get their act together & do something
That is great! I am in Germany and calls cost a lot. So, I write. I have a form letter that I alter each day based on things I read, and then I send this. I am going on the nag principal. The thing is that they have staff that keeps track of issues, so I hope I am racking them up on this. I am ready to start a write in campaign if Dick Durbin does not stop just doing nothing. I am livid over him being in the chair and doing absolutely nothing. However, I am trying to write him encouraging him to be on the right side of history, because it is pretty obvious to me that Trump is setting things up to 1) steal the election using the court if he does not win, and they are setting themselves up to give it to. him, 2) he is setting the whole USA up to get ready for a fascistic dictatorship, and apparently too many people are misguided enough to think that it is best not to spend too much time thinking about politics.
Dick is a dick!!
I didn’t realize until recently that I now live in Iran where the religious zealots get to tell me how to live, what I can and can’t do and rule every inch of my body. These motherfucking Bullshit NOT Christian lying tools are the very essence of projection and hatred. Everything they believe is antithetical to the teachings of Jesus and has nothing to do with religion or spirituality. And Now a Supreme Court judge while ignoring the basics of the constitution can’t remember how and why the pilgrims and others left their homelands to come here where they could practice their personal faith free from the constraints of government. My rage meter just broke.
Remember all that fear-mongering about Sharia law? Projection, as always.
I've always said that these assholes’ beef with Sharia law was merely professional jealousy.
Yep — they didn't want the competition.
Yes, the Christian Nationalists, Dominionists are just the Taliban, but with lighter skin
Same shit, different flags.
Ever wonder if he has the Gay Pride flag? Wonder if that would go up..somehow 🤔
Like I want to sneak there late at night and do just that!
His arse maybe.
I’m thinking of starting a campaign:
If women can’t have abortions or even birth control, then men should have mandatory vasectomies. After all, they’re reversible, aren’t they? And one isn’t, well - too bad. Just like, if you get pregnant and you don’t want to be - too bad?
I’ve been thinking of offering to support an abortion ban (every life is sacred, you know) as soon as these asshats add on a total ban on guns and the death penalty. I’m guessing their love of life ends the same fucking minute an independent breath is taken. Fucking hypocrites!
If women can't get abortions or birth control, the obvious response is to withhold sex. See how happy the men are with that!
See the play Lysistrata, by the ancient Greek comic writer Aristophanes. Just as pertinent today.
I am firmly in your court on that. This shit just can’t be quietly tolerated.
Mandatory vasectomies & no more Cialis or Viagra. If it’s limp, well then, it must be god’s will. Too bad for you.
But hey, the radical preachers assure us women that suffering strengthens your faith, right?
Right on, sister!!!
Things Haley said about Trump. I think she meant them.
“He’s totally unhinged.”
“If you are going to hit our military, you are not qualified to be president, period.”
“If you mock the service of a combat veteran, you don’t deserve a driver’s license, let alone being president of the United States.”
“Anybody that can’t call out a dictator, that’s a problem . . . [Putin’s] emboldened by Trump because Trump is not willing to stand up for our allies.”
“Trump just sided with a thug who kills his political opponents. He just sided with a man who goes and arrests American journalists and holds them hostage. He sided with him over the allies who stood with us at 9/11.”
“He said that he would stand with Putin and encourage him to invade our allies . . . Trump would side with a dictator who kills his political opponents . . . Trump is going to side with a madman who’s made no bones about the fact he wants to destroy America.”
“This is a man that put us $8 trillion in debt . . . This is a man who praised China’s president Xi a dozen times after China gave us COVID. This is a man who now wants to go and put 10 percent tariffs across the board, raising taxes on every single American.”
“He’s just trying to control as much as he can control, but we don’t want a king in America.”
“Every bit of it is disgusting. To sit there and mock my husband for not being with me on the campaign trail because he is deployed and serving our country . . . The reality is, the closest [Trump] has come to harm’s way is a golf ball hitting him on a golf cart.”
“Trump is the most disliked politician in America. We cannot win a general election that way.”
“Every single thing that Donald Trump has said or put on TV has been a lie.”
https://www.thebulwark.com/p/haley-shivs-the-haley-republicans
Haley, why back away from the truth you so clearly saw?
Simple answer: Nikki is a LIAR. She fooled the millions of voters and donors who believed her. History will remember her as another of the tiny minded frauds who sold their soul and sacred honor to a dumbshit conman. Unbelievable poor judgment. Can you imagine the roar of approval if she endorsed Biden? She would be the hero of 75% of the Nation. Instead she chose to dive headfirst into Donald's cesspool of moral filth.
And the real shame of it is, at the end of the day, Nikki Haley surprised no one.
True. Every last one of these fucking GOPs are lying asshats that don’t qualify as members of humanity. I’ve never felt such rage and loathing in my life before.
And she might have wound up as the Republican nominee if Trump's dementia gets undeniable and further extreme. Now even Haley voters may not trust her.
"May" not trust her? She just confirmed for her former supporters, and everyone else, that she is untrustworthy.
Then: "Trump is unfit for office. Send me money to stop him."
Now: "I will vote for Trump."
WTF?
Well many Republicans trust unworthy people and sources. It wouldn't be unusual for most of them, unfortunately. But you are absolutely right if we're talking about rational people.
We now know the deep grasp of the Putin claw…
She may be hoping to be his VP nominee...who knows? It wouldn't surprise me about either of them. It's all so exhausting.
The fact that she endorsed him doesn't surprise me. I never believed that she was any kind of an anti-MAGA to begin with. What I am kind of surprised at is I thought it wouldn't be this early....I thought she'd hold out for a quid pro quo...maybe she got it and we just don't know what it is yet.
Agreed. I thought she might be a raisin. As did millions of her voters and money supporters. But she has now endorsed a turd. So she has confirmed for the world that she is also a turd. "When you mix raisins with turds, they are all turds." Charlie Munger.
She’s looking at running in 2028.
Does she think there will still be free and fair elections if shit-for-brains wins? I thought he was planning on staying and appointing his own successor…and I don’t think it would be her!
David Frum wrote a good piece. Haley voters voted against Trump, not for Haley, and her endorsement won't make them like him more. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/05/nikki-haley-trump-endorse/678461/
I fear that too many of them will give a weak sigh and say, “But everyone says Biden is leading the country into communism.”
Do any of them actually understand what "communism" is? It's the red scare and McCarthyism all over again. Even the so called communists don't really do communism anymore. 🙄🤷♀️ There's no decency left on the right.
"Marxist" is back, too. Nine out of ten Republicans can't tell you what it means.
12 out of 10
No, they don’t know the communist philosophy, & they really have no clue what Marxism means. They’re just scary words trump throws out to mean evil, bad, take your guns.
Yes all it did was show her true colors..
I hope David is correct.
It's because money wins in the end. Self-enrichment is the goal. Always.
Perhaps money and perhaps she didn’t want to be forced to leave the country. Trump’s a thug like Hitler.
He never forgets an insult. She'll be his enemy in his mind anyway.
“Greed is good”. Remember that quote from the movie WALL STREET-1988 Oscar winning film with Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko? And so it began in the age of Reagan.
The root of Everything wrong today from a liberal or progressive perspective can be traced to Reagan.
The only justice will be if tRUMP wins and they get royally fucked over as they so deserve. I hate these vile, despicable creatures as much or more than I hate their fucking Dear Leader. I pray every day for a painful death for him and all of his supporters. And I’m not fucking religious. I want them all FUCKING DEAD!!!!!!!!!!😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡
I believe that she now lets her ambition do the talking. To do the right thing was too difficult for Ms. Haley, that is. to endorse Biden. She would have no political future in her outlaw party. She had a choice between choosing Biden or choosing "chaos," in Donald Trump. She chose "Nikki Haley."
She wouldn’t know the right thing any more than she knows her ass from a hole in the ground. FUCKING GOP SOUTHERN CUNT!!!!! Die Nikki!
So she says she'll vote for Trump, despite all his 'flaws.' She offers the same bogus rationale many use, which is "Biden is a disaster." How is he a disaster? He presides over the best economy and lowest unemployment in anyone's memory. He got a handle on the pandemic when all Trump had to offer was 'take bleach' or 'horse medications.' Millions died, needlessly. So now we're all bent out of shape over 3% inflation because, well, 2%. It's still the lowest rate in the developed world, and even then it has more to do with broken supply chains and Covid than investing in the future of America. The list goes on....
It has a whole lot to do with toxic capitalism & corporate greed, oil execs colluding with Russia & the Saudis to cut production & keep prices high, etc
Looks like someone got to Flippy Nikki and now she's calling on her supporters to vote for load blowing Donny. Many former cabinet members and others who worked for him during his term have bailed and emphasized how incompetent and what a fucking moron he really is. Why Haley won't disassociate herself from this never ending shit storm could mean she's hoping for that VP nod.
LIKE ANY GOOD REPUBLICAN SCUMBAG SHE WILL VOTE FOR HIM.
She is a fucking lying cowardly hypocrite!
So is Haley 🤦
This is in the top ten sickening things I’ve seen in my 68 years. Like I said about Clarence Thomas, Democrats on the Hill should be investigating Alito so that when we turn everything blue in November, they will be close to ready to impeach this dude too. The notion that Everything Trump Touches Dies is what keeps me sane. VOTE!
It takes 60 votes to convict and remove a public official in the Senate. I just don't think that's going to happen. But I agree, VOTE, because there are a lot of good laws that can get passed and good judges who can be appointed.
It requires a TWO THIRDS vote in the U.S. Senate to convict an impeached public official, which would result in the official's removal from office. I agree that Dick Durbin and his committee could begin to investigate a Supreme Court Justice before the election in November, but it would require SIXTY-SEVEN votes in the Senate to convict. How many definite Democrats do we have in the Senate now, and how many would we need to get to 67 votes after the election?
You're right. I got momentarily confused.
It could; maybe they are investigating all of those suspected crooks.
Okay media——get your shit together and report on EVERYTHING Jeff has pointed out and we ALL agree with! And Durbin, etc……get your head(s)out of wherever the heck it is and take a stand!!!!
They won't. Ownership are a rich Rethuglicans who think paying taxes is for the poor. Reporters are mere employees with a kid and a mortgage.
Very true- my spouse is retired from newspaper-I agree
I have a neighbor flying a solid black flag, which I find means ‘ No Quarter Given’. In other words, if you’re not white, you’re going to be executed. How’s that for a warm fuzzy for the neighborhood? It infuriates me. Especially when those flying all th3se flags are white alright, white trash.
I agree.Alito must be impeached.Recusal is not enough.Any decision-ANY decision that he makes is tainted.Not only decisions that involve Trump but all of his decisions are disingenuous at the least and out and out treasonous at the most.That he would thumb his nose at Americans and throw out a big F U to the rule of law makes him ineligible to serve.Period.
What makes you think Alito will recuse? He won’t
I know he won’t, bc he knows there really isn’t anything anyone can do about it. He’s basically like a kid saying neener neener, you can’t get me.
It’s crap, but that’s where we are.
But they are hired guns to vote for the way the fucking Christian Right hired them to vote. They’ll never recuse. Peligan Brief
The leak of the Dobbs ruling that ended Roe is more and more likely from Alito’s office. He probably leaked it.
Of course he did.!!
I’m al for impeaching Alito and Thomas, or at the very least investigating their misconduct. But seriously, is impeachment really a thing under the constitution? It seems that the founders in their naïveté created a mechanism that simply cannot work. I looked it up. The House has initiated impeachment proceedings more than 60 times, passing articles of impeachment only 21 impeachments. Of the three presidents, one cabinet member, one senator and 18 judges, only eight federal judges have been removed from office by impeachment. Chances of this House initiating impeachment of either justice? Zero. Chance of getting 9 GOP senators to vote for their impeachment? Zero.
Once Mitch gave Trump two passes in thoroughly documented cases of corruption and insurrection, Article II, Section 4 ceased to be meaningful.
The judiciary--in the form of the Supreme Court--was considered an afterthought back in 1800, not taken seriously enough to have its own space to hold hearings. Justices rode circuit. It wasn't until Marbury vs Madison that the principle that the Court could rule on the constitutionality of laws passed by Congress was established. Today the Court is a powerful force, which makes it even more imperative that it adheres to strict ethical standards. It doesn't.
Agree that SCOTUS should adhere to strict ethical standards, but seems to have none. And short of the toothless impeachment tiger, they seem immune to legal standards as well. Perhaps thats why they seem so intrigued by Trump’s claims of immunity.
IMHO as an ordinary citizen, but one who has been actively learning more about the courts over the last 3-4 yrs, Marbury v Madison judicial review, is bullshit, a blatant power grab from another supposedly equal branch of govt. The shadow docket & the unexplained decisions it produces are more BS, & then the habit the court has gotten into of reaching out & choosing cases to hear & even rewriting the questions asked in the cases is more BS.
The scotus has gathered unto itself all of the power & said to hell with the other two branches.
We must push Biden to see this for the existencial crisis that it is & expand the court
It's been a long time coming, but yes.
If the POS Supreme Court figures out a way to give POS Donald J Trump immunity for everything he has ever done, and him alone, I predict a Civil War. Trump, Republicans, Supreme Court Justices, it doesn't matter. They will not be able to outrun the hatred of the American people.
One huge mistake the R’s are making (among so many!) is assuming that Democrats don’t own guns. Oh. Yes. We. Do. Just because we don’t go around displaying and fetishizing them doesn’t mean we don’t have them. Arm up, people. If they think I’m going to go meekly into their pen, they can think again.
Americans basically too fat & lazy for war. They are hurting badly enough
The people who voted for and support Trump are fat and lazy. Everyone else is getting more and more angry at the garbage that are destroying America.
That’s what our military is for. The majority of service members will remain loyal to the constitution. 13 years active duty service tells me this.
Yeah, no. My fucking asshat 20+’year AF vet brother believes whatever the fucking cheetoh says is constitutional. My prick brother had threatened my life (restraining order awarded) and has been involved in a Chutkan swatting incident — he’s awaiting trial. He swears the military is behind MAGA. I believe him. If you don’t, you’re either fucking insane or lying about your service. FUCK THE US MILITARY!!! FUCK TRUMP!!! FUCK EVERY DAMN ASSHOLE WHO HAS EVER THOUGHT ABOUT VOTING FOR THE GOP!!! I finally understand why so many chant Death to America. And I agree.
That’s exactly what I’ve been screaming at anyone who will listen, we need to fear our own military. If you go on other platforms like Rumble, sub-Reddits, Patriots for Donald, etc
the violent shit they say on them is hair curling & many of them are vets.
The Pentagon has admitted on 60 Minutes that they have a real problem with the maga ideology & that they’re
“working on” weeding them out; but also admitted the process was going too slow.
I certainly don’t believe ALL of the active military or even the majority are insurrectionists in their hearts, but I do believe there are way more of them than anyone wants to admit.
Aren’t
Haven’t they already ruled that he doesn’t have immunity?
As far as I know, they are still stalling on a decision. Americans are angry that the majority of the Supreme Court Justices have been bought off by Trump and others.
No
What makes you think that? They are sitting on the issue that should be a no brainer
For the four years he attended Jesuit Georgetown Prep, Gorsuch wrote a regular item in the school rag entitled "Fascism Forever". As far as I know, nobody expressed interest in this at his confirmation hearings. (Of course, Kavanaugh attended the same fascist mill.) Clarence Thomas's motto appears to be "I'm on board, now pull up the rope ladder."
Horrible but not surprising. Gorsuch grew up a few blocks from me, went to a Catholic boys' school called Regis, known for turning out arrogant little shitweasels.
Here’s what was said at the time:
https://www.jacksonville.com/story/news/reason/2017/03/25/fact-check-supreme-court-nominee-didn-t-lead-fascism-club/15362760007/
Wtf! How do they not know this shit when they’re holding the hearings?
They knew it, they just thought it would backfire on them if they focused on his "youthful indiscretions." Also Dems are under the impression that no one would understand what was wrong with it. For example, Alan Greenspan skated through his confirmations without a single question about his lifetime devotion to Ayn Rand's Objectivist ("Altruism is evil") humbug. If he spent a college year as a member of the Socialist Workers Party, things might have been different.
WTAF ???!!! Fascism Forever!!
Who paid for the beach house?
Dino Dick Durbin, I remember him. Republican as they come, though he acts half as dumb.
Durbin has been compromised for....decades by repubs. Dick looked like the dummy on Sammy the Ventriloquists lap who mouthed words ....'Americans understand what he did....let it go" And Alitos mouth didn't even move....😜
and here we are, watching our democracy erode and fade into the sunset...people need to do their god damn fucking jobs and hold these cunts accountable!!!...our entire system is breaking down right before our eyes, and apparently there just aren't enough public officials who actually give a fuck!...on either side!!!!!!!!
Durbin must call for a hearing. This makes p2 purposeful instances of Alito identifying as a pro- insurrectionist. Since Thomas has ‘protection’ from being called out, Alito is the obvious example. Go after him. This is how MTG got her power - a few comments at a time until there was no pushback. Durbin must stand up. How many more symbols will it take to convince Dems this is for real and for keeps. Already Trump is setting the stage - saying Biden had a hit squad - it only inflames the crazies. You have to stop it now!
Weak kneed responses and inaction is what robs the base of morale. We vote Democrats in so they have a majority and what do they do to fight MAGA?? I dunno..Flood Durbins office with calls? If Weak Judiciary Comm. isnt going to deal with SCOTUS Demand another 50 Federal judges get confirmed (Dems confirmed 200 thus far).
Absofreakinglutely!!!!!!!
Fuck recusal! This traitorous SOB should be impeached immediately!