As expected, the SCOTUS ruled that individual states cannot keep an insurrectionist off their own state ballot.  The opinion was unanimous.  But what isn’t talked about as much in the media is what the majority did next, which was writing in a new constitutional provision specifically designed to protect none other than the subject of the ruling, TFG.  Even though the opinion was unanimous, it was unanimous only in saying the states can’t ban insurrectionists from the ballot.  The four women justices disagreed when the Trump Wing of SCOTUS went far beyond the question before the Court, adding a new requirement that a candidate can only be blocked under the 14th Amendment by FEDERAL LEGISLATION, which, in the current environment, is impossible.  It doesn’t impose that same rule on other provisions of the 14th Amendment such as the two term limit, just the insurrectionist provision.  So the Trump Wing of SCOTUS actually wrote in a new Constitutional requirement to disqualify an insurrectionist.  This is called legislating from the bench. And again, done so in the service of TFG to help him take over the US government in January 2025.

The Trump Wing of the SCOTUS often hides behind federal legislation in its opinions to help their own political party.  One glaring example of this is when they declined to stop clearly unconstitutional state gerrymandering  that has permanently disenfranchise millions of voters like those of us in Texas where Dems have to win 58% of votes in districts statewide to have a chance of taking a majority of Congressional seats.  SCOTUS says it’s not its job to protect from that, so disenfranchised voters have no recourse for justice.

So the SCOTUS continues to run interference for TFG, helping him run out the clock to the election in November.  Oh, and by the by, Clarence Thomas once again didn’t recuse in a case where he is clearly conflicted.

Your welcome.

The SCOTUS just announced that, after slow walking a decision for weeks, that they will take on TFG’s claim of absolute immunity even though the Court of Appeals decision denying that claim was unanimous and has been called “masterful” by many legal experts.  They also continued the stay on his election interference trial, almost guaranteeing that he won’t go to trial before the election.  Trump wins again with his handpicked court.

Fuck me.

At CPAC last week, the Teabaggers of 2010 looked quaint compared to the insurrectionists and radicals of 2024.  The Crazy Wing and the Stupid Wing of the GOP have merged and the resulting zombie was on full display at what can only be dubbed Trumpfest.  One notable moment was during a panel moderated by Chief Shitbag Steve Bannon when QAnon enthusiast and Pizzagate influencer Jack Posobiec said,

“Welcome to the end of democracy. We are here to overthrow it completely.  We didn’t get all the way there on January 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this, right here.”

It didn’t stop there.  The speakers’ list was a rogue’s gallery of election deniers, white supremacists, criminals and crazies.  TFG co-conspirator Jeffrey Clark was a speaker, along Stefanik, Russian Agent Jim Jordon, Gaetz, Princess Nepotism Lara Trump, and other ne’er-do-wells spouting bullshit and pledging fealty to TFG.  Nazis mingled openly amongst the mouthbreathers, all convinced that Joe Biden is a criminal and the actual criminal, TFG, was unjustly being persecuted.

This is just a preview of the 2024 election year. I’m not looking forward to it in the slightest.

Honestly, I don’t know how long women of childbearing age can stay in Texas. I am grateful my daughters are settled in states where their health and lives are respected. Tuesday’s decision by the Fifth Circuit reaffirms how broken Texas is. I am using my A language here, because Momma’s watching from the great beyond, but what I really want to use is my F language.

And then there’s this. Too many people are suffering and dying from bad air. Bad air along industrial zones on the Gulf Coast is not news. Just ask Juanita Jean. Yet, the powers that be in these states (and the Supreme Court) don’t want government interference or the EPA telling them what to do, until they want to blame Joe Biden. You can’t have it both ways, guys. Voters, you need to hold your leaders accountable up and down the ballot. All Politics is Local, right?

This will sound harsh, and certainly doesn’t apply to Salon patrons who are doing all they can to turn things around, but no one in a clean air/water state is going to feel too sorry for you if you don’t help yourselves. I do know that some of us will be sending a little cash to candidates in foreign states who give a hoot, joining GOTV letter campaigns, and supporting our own legislators who understand how important a clean environment is for all of us. Especially with the impacts of climate change. After all, we are pro life no caps, have friends and family we care about, and are good American patriots in the purest sense of the word. Some of us are even fans of the NE Patriots, even when they have losing seasons (like they did when I was growing up). See how I lightened up this rant??? Tomorrow, I go back to drinking half-caf in the morning, I can’t keep this up.

If there isn’t landslide mail in, early and on site Election Day voting in 2024, I will be more disappointed than I was on election night 2016. Okay, maybe AS disappointed. That was a hell night I will never recover from, and an order of magnitude worse than election night 2000.  I’d better stock up the bar just in case. At this rate I won’t come close to Damp January, never mind Dry January. Who knows where things will be at by November. Hang on, it is going to be a wild ride.

If you have any doubt about what the US would look like under a second TFG administration, just look at Israel.  The parallels are uncanny.  Think about it – Bibi Netanyahu, the country’s totalitarian leader, is under indictment for corruption, bribery, and breach of trust; sound familiar?  Despite these charges, he was re-elected in 2022 with a tiny 4 seat majority in parliament; sound familiar?  Despite this tiny majority he’s rammed through a number of “reforms” which are nothing but power grabs.  Since Netanyahu controls both the executive office and parliament, the only check on his power has been Israel’s supreme court, which has made life inconvenient in his takeover.  He fixed that yesterday by ramming through a very unpopular bill stripping the court of much of its oversight authority; Israelis are now rioting in the streets.

Netanyahu is backed by ultra-right and ultra-religious radicals who are protecting him; sound familiar?  Since 2022 they’ve been consolidating their power and are now in the process of taking over the West Bank and expanding Israeli settlements by stripping land from Palestinians, limiting the civil rights of Palestinians, inserting religion and limiting the rights of secular Israelis, and limiting LGBTQ rights.  The military has stepped up persecution of Palestinians with violent attacks on their settlements and refugee camps, claiming to be rooting out “terrorists”.

TFG’s henchmen are already laying plans should he take office again; their intent is to consolidate all government power under the president, stripping independence of the DOJ (especially the FBI), the IRS, the EPA, the FCC, FTC, and all functions independent of the White House.  They also plan to strip government employee protections, purge the agencies and install loyalists throughout the government.  It’s exactly what Netanyahu is doing in Israel, but on a much larger scale.  Both plans are the same, and that is to institutionalize corruption.

The only real difference between Netanyahu’s takeover of Israel and TFG’s plan?  He already controls the SCOTUS.  That should send cold chills down your back.

Last night, CNN stupidly handed TFG 70 minutes on the national stage to spew his bullshit and play his greatest hits of lies, big lies, gigantic lies, and intergalactic lies.  His “town hall” quickly became a TFG rally complete with mocking of the moderator and continued defamation of every perceived enemy from Biden to E. Jean Carroll.  What idiot at CNN thought it would be a good idea to fill a room with TFG supporters and unleash them on national television?  TFG began his stream of lies within one minute of taking the stage, and it continued for over an hour, completely running over moderator Kaitlan Collins, who’s effort to fact check TFG was an exercise in futility.

If there was any good that came from last night’s shameful display, it’s that TFG did a superb  job of burying himself in confessions of crimes and continued defamation of his enemies, especially E. Jean Carroll, to whom he already owes $5 million.  He openly celebrated the January 6th insurrection, calling it a “beautiful day”, and repeated his promise to pardon insurrectionists.  He admitted to taking classified documents and hiding them at Mar a Lago.  You can bet that Jack Smith and other federal and state prosecutors were listening very carefully and taking copious notes.  I have to admit one thing about TFG – he clearly understands his plight and has pushed all of his chips to the center of the table.  He knows that if he’s not successful at winning the presidency and taking down the US government, he’s facing the rest of his life either in jail or fighting desperately to stay out.  Without a win, his fate is sealed.

We may as well brace for almost two years of this rolling shitshow as it’s clear that TFG controls the former Republican party and no one will come close to taking him down in the primaries.  EVERY voter needs to understand the stakes here; you can bet that TFG does.