All purpose news and politics thread part VI: This Is Not The Time For Posing

[WestPhillyPunisher]

WHITE LIES MATTER Shirts

Clever! I like it!

[Tami]

Clever! I like it!

Yesterday at the supermarket I saw a man wearing a T-Shirt that said something like, 'White, Republican, Male' and there may have been more to it, I really didn't get a close look. I didn't want to.

I wonder how others might react in my hometown if I wore a women's size version of the White Lies Matter T-Shirt, especially since I am white myself.

Edit: They do have it in women's sizes. Something to consider.

[Tami]

NCR exclusive: Campaign names three dozen 'Catholics for Biden' co-chairs

As former Vice President Joe Biden vies to become the second Catholic president in U.S. history, three dozen Catholic lawmakers, ambassadors, educators and nonprofit leaders have signed on to serve as national co-chairs of the campaign's "Catholics for Biden" outreach.

The list of names, which the Biden campaign provided to NCR, includes, among other notable individuals:

Carolyn Woo, former president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services;
Samantha Power, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations;
Victoria Reggie Kennedy, wife of the late Sen. Ted Kennedy;
Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine, who was Hillary Clinton's 2016 running mate;
Longtime Democratic strategist Donna Brazile.

"This list of co-chairs represents the diverse coalition the vice president has been able to put together," John McCarthy, the deputy national political director for the Biden campaign, told NCR by phone on Monday. "In the coming weeks, we will be deploying them to talk about how their faith motivates them to support the vice president."

Dickson said the 36 individuals who have signed on as co-chairs for the Catholics for Biden outreach are not offering their names for mere endorsements, but will lend their voices and their leadership to events organized under the umbrella of Catholics for Biden, which includes phone banks, voter turnout initiatives, and other ways to ensure "community and connection."

Other co-chairs include:

Former Colorado State Sen. Polly Baca;
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra;
Pennsylvania Rep. Brendan Boyle;
University of Pennsylvania theologian Anthea Butler;
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey;
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro;
Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois;
Ambassador Elizabeth Frawley Bagley;
Entrepreneur Felice Gorordo;
Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur;
Ariane Kirkpatrick;
Pennsylvania Rep. Conor Lamb;
California Rep. Ted Lieu;
Bel Leong-Hong;
Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough;
Texas State Sen. José Menéndez;
Henry Muñoz III;
Joan Neal;
Brian O'Dwyer;
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley;
Ambassador Kevin O'Malley;
Ambassador Tim Roemer;
Stephen Schneck;
Tim Shriver Jr.;
Mark Kennedy Shriver;
Kathleen Kennedy Townsend;
New York Rep. Tom Suozzi;
California Rep. Juan Vargas;
Retired Major Gen. Frank Vavala;
Former Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack;
Catholic University of America professor John Kenneth White.

[babyblob]

Fox and Friends just spent 25 minutes in a combo of interviewing the saloon owner and talking about Pelosi's no mask hair cut.

I am glad when we have wild fires like crazy, a hurricane about to hit the gulf, Trump holding a huge rally in violation of Covid mandates, police being ambushed in LA, an attempt to commit massive election fraud that Fox is covering the hard hitting big news stories. Good for them for not being afraid to talk about what matters.

[Tami]

Fox and Friends just spent 25 minutes in a combo of interviewing the saloon owner and talking about Pelosi's no mask hair cut.

I am glad when we have wild fires like crazy, a hurricane about to hit the gulf, Trump holding a huge rally in violation of Covid mandates, police being ambushed in LA, an attempt to commit massive election fraud that Fox is covering the hard hitting big news stories. Good for them for not being afraid to talk about what matters.

You are a true master of irony.

[Tami]

Trump seizes on judge’s ruling that Pennsylvania lockdown is ‘unconstitutional’

Shutdown restrictions ordered by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus were unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday — a decision that was quickly celebrated by President Trump, who said he hopes the decision is followed by similar pronouncements in other states.

The state’s limits on gatherings and closure of nonessential businesses violated the First Amendment and the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment, according to a 66-page opinion by U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV, a Trump appointee. The governor’s office confirmed it will appeal the decision.

The case stemmed from a complaint filed in May by four Pennsylvania counties — Butler, Fayette, Greene and Washington — that argued against the state’s orders to close “non-life-sustaining” businesses and limit gatherings to 25 people indoors or 250 people outdoors.

Stickman opined “open-ended” measures imposed on people are an overreaching violation of constitutional rights.

“The court believes that defendants undertook their actions in a well-intentioned effort to protect Pennsylvanians from the virus,” the ruling said. “However, good intentions toward a laudable end are not alone enough to uphold governmental action against a constitutional challenge.”

[WestPhillyPunisher]

Trump seizes on judge’s ruling that Pennsylvania lockdown is ‘unconstitutional’

It should be noted the judge who issued that ruling was a Trump appointee, so his decision came as no surprise at all. Whether or not the lockdown was unconstitutional according to the complaint from those counties which, by the way, are in the westernmost part of the state which leans Republican, the important thing was that lives were saved, our medical facilities weren't overrun, and Pennsylvania didn't turn into a four alarm disaster area like Florida, Texas and Alabama, all red states by the way. Hey, Tami, be careful, I'm sure some black robed Trump bootlicker in New Jersey saw what happened in my state and will file a similar ruling against Phil Murphy, if that hasn't happened already.

Oh, yeah, the timing for the release of the ruling yesterday was no coincidence since Trump will be here in Philly today for a town hall slated to sway undecided voters. You can bet the mortgage and the kid's college fund Trump will bleat about how dastardly and evil Tom Wolf was for mandating that awful lockdown and other ridiculous bullshit.

[Tendrin]

It should be noted the judge who issued that ruling was a Trump appointee, so his decision came as no surprise at all. Whether or not the lockdown was unconstitutional according to the complaint from those counties which, by the way, are in the westernmost part of the state which leans Republican, the important thing was that lives were saved, our medical facilities weren't overrun, and Pennsylvania didn't turn into a four alarm disaster area like Florida, Texas and Alabama, all red states by the way. Hey, Tami, be careful, I'm sure some black robed Trump bootlicker in New Jersey saw what happened in my state and will file a similar ruling against Phil Murphy, if that hasn't happened already.

Josh Marshall at TPM correctly pointed out that this decision is essentially an attempt to return to a Lochnar-era basis for legal rulings.

[Tami]

The ruling makes little sense since Governors can order evacuations during a storm or similar event, they can shut down businesses during certain types of major storms, there might be other exampes as well.

Are these also unconstitional?

[Tami]

Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden

Scientific American has never endorsed a presidential candidate in its 175-year history. This year we are compelled to do so. We do not do this lightly.

The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the U.S. and its people—because he rejects evidence and science. The most devastating example is his dishonest and inept response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which cost more than 190,000 Americans their lives by the middle of September. He has also attacked environmental protections, medical care, and the researchers and public science agencies that help this country prepare for its greatest challenges. That is why we urge you to vote for Joe Biden, who is offering fact-based plans to protect our health, our economy and the environment. These and other proposals he has put forth can set the country back on course for a safer, more prosperous and more equitable future.

The pandemic would strain any nation and system, but Trump's rejection of evidence and public health measures have been catastrophic in the U.S. He was warned many times in January and February about the onrushing disease, yet he did not develop a national strategy to provide protective equipment, coronavirus testing or clear health guidelines. Testing people for the virus, and tracing those they may have infected, is how countries in Europe and Asia have gained control over their outbreaks, saved lives, and successfully reopened businesses and schools. But in the U.S., Trump claimed, falsely, that “anybody that wants a test can get a test.” That was untrue in March and remained untrue through the summer. Trump opposed $25 billion for increased testing and tracing that was in a pandemic relief bill as late as July. These lapses accelerated the spread of disease through the country—particularly in highly vulnerable communities that include people of color, where deaths climbed disproportionately to those in the rest of the population.

[Odd Rödney]

Some Republican airheads will no doubt claim that this is exactly like Roger Stone planning a fascist coup.

I would argue that most Republican airheads will claim that.

These right-wing Trump boot-lickers (and I'd go as far to say most Trump supporters) are perfectly ok with this country descending into a fascist dystopia. It's terrifying. Trump (and the Republicans in the house and senate who refuse to stand up to him) have shown nothing but outright baneful defiance for the democratic norms that hold the powerful accountable. If he gets 4 more years I believe he will see this as his opportunity to install himself as the autocratic emperor his supporters already believe him to be.

[WestPhillyPunisher]

The ruling makes little sense since Governors can order evacuations during a storm or similar event, they can shut down businesses during certain types of major storms, there might be other exampes as well.

Are these also unconstitional?

Only when it doesn't follow Trump's narrative.

Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden

There was so much unbiased truth in those two paragraphs alone it was crazy.

[Tendrin]

The politicization of justice under Barr and Trump continues.

Federal prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the publication of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book, notching up the pressure on a critic of and former insider in the Trump administration.

A federal grand jury issued subpoenas to Simon & Schuster, the publisher of Bolton’s book, and his literary agent, Javelin, the Wall Street Journal and New York Times reported.

The subpoenas reportedly ask for all communications the companies had with Bolton as he published his book “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir.” The book offered an inside account of Bolton’s time as national security adviser, replete with details and anecdotes that embarrassed President Trump.

As Bolton’s book went to press in June, the Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Bolton seeking to to block its publication. A federal judge rejected that emergency request, but the Justice Department has reportedly continued in its civil inquiry of whether Bolton mishandled classified information in publishing the book.

It is unlikely anything will come of this. The purpose is merely intimidation and the protection of the president's campaign.

But in that opinion, D.C. District Judge Royce Lamberth castigated Bolton, saying that his decision to publish the book without receiving final notice from the White House that its review of classified information was complete “raises grave national security concerns.” Bolton has said that the White House intentionally dragged its feet on approving the book in an effort to delay or avoid the publication of embarrassing information.

In the case of “The Room Where It Happened,” that secret information may include Bolton’s account of Trump trying to enlist the government of China to help him with his re-election effort, or the President committing to Turkish leader Reccep Tayyip Erdogan that he would shut down a Manhattan federal criminal investigation into a Turkish bank.

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckra...n-boltons-book

[Malvolio]

Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden

And there will still be people who won't vote for Biden because he isn't exciting them or because he isn't for Medicare for All or because of something he said twenty years ago.

[babyblob]

Scientific American Endorses Joe Biden

This is more important to me after watching a video of Trump meeting with officials in California. Trump told them the Earth will get cooler very soon. A man said "I wish science could agree with you." Trump's comeback? "Science doesnt know everything."

Wow! But I dont know why I am so surprised at this point.