tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69522117929795524482024-02-06T18:08:02.479-08:00Adventures in VertigoRob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.comBlogger433125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-59484203638365505452022-08-11T16:41:00.000-07:002022-08-11T16:41:16.020-07:00David Rothkopf: A Twitter Thread<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRCaC-AYfbWt8tyRK5qb8yHf-3ttaMGAAKKEgquMHW8YTI4BXjHnbIMQxZ1aYBWtOT_qL8y6mIRW1BnYndR8gm8FIqLVzGxaslf8oUZG5B9xLgwq_rKM390StVTnn9e1CjgIAV12Lh0chr9iXlOIQhxIDIyDEYRAxajWoPj8wRwolbuyzfe1n2D7fjLQ/s2208/11892798-5E61-4662-BEB8-C99D3FF8E06F.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQWwjE-ZFh1N5WkRIi-WldZIWjLJ8OCAYl6GLH6UxZRO60CGKbYTG2PCP1dVf8ugQtQ50ybM6_AwIdLklbHsMwLt4GI_PNIiYrEViCH5iO7iy8m1YNOpEy_rPvUfRtIKCNT1TtCvis9W7FmW2hwhBkHglNMBkGAI7moBEZTi-0QR8-ERWKvbRTcmwFIA/s2208/302429B7-0E46-4993-9C52-52E9A810A8AC.png" style="margin-left: 1em; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Wd78YAPw9X7f1INgQgTAB4lHzoHAl0YDfwZababZCdKiJHZauDRVKY8dRSbSjARqnuPN_Gv8mxa8m86JZ6-lANhge8Sg28hetpsnDE9cTyS9rf9AP2Mz6qaccfiGvxsS8M9V6tegZ6JBOjvrfoqicIzl9mul6Vug_pbYltPPcu-xO-SQHn9nxjepmg/s2048/F20AD3C1-DB4A-46CE-A34B-8AAAE8AB85C7.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="861" height="1138" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Wd78YAPw9X7f1INgQgTAB4lHzoHAl0YDfwZababZCdKiJHZauDRVKY8dRSbSjARqnuPN_Gv8mxa8m86JZ6-lANhge8Sg28hetpsnDE9cTyS9rf9AP2Mz6qaccfiGvxsS8M9V6tegZ6JBOjvrfoqicIzl9mul6Vug_pbYltPPcu-xO-SQHn9nxjepmg/w480-h1138/F20AD3C1-DB4A-46CE-A34B-8AAAE8AB85C7.png" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Reportedly, some of the old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Bond" target="_blank">James Bond</a> films are unspooling again in cinemas in the United Kingdom to celebrate 60 years of 007 on screen. Twitter has been abuzz for the last couple of weeks with fans of the fictional super spy looking forward to seeing the entry <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Licence_to_Kill" target="_blank"><i>Licence to Kill</i></a> (1989) return to the big screen after many years. <br /><br />It was nice to see such fervor for a Bond film where the spy is played by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_Dalton" target="_blank">Timothy Dalton</a>, an actor who is not usually thought of as a 007 fan favorite. His serious, scowling take on the secret agent is often contrasted unfavorably to the more suave, debonair interpretations of the character, which tend to be more popular. I’m not the biggest Bond enthusiast, but Dalton is my favorite Bond actor, and since he appeared in only two films of the legendary franchise — <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Living_Daylights" target="_blank"><i>The Living Daylights</i></a> (1987) and <i>Licence to Kill</i> — he remains one of the more underrated in the role, so it was good to see some enthusiasm on line for his portrayal.<br /><br />This got me to thinking of the <a href="https://adventuresinvertigo.blogspot.com/2015/11/dalton-timothy-dalton.html" target="_blank">blogpost</a> I wrote back in 2015 about Dalton being my favorite Bond. In my article, I wrote about my satisfaction that Dalton was being reappraised as one of the better Bonds after his outings had mostly been scorned upon release by fans of the series. (And by “the series,” I mean the franchise begun under producer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_R._Broccoli" target="_blank">Albert R. Broccoli</a> and originally distributed by United Artists starting in 1962. A handful of films and TV shows featuring the character of Bond have been produced outside of this series, but they are not thought of as “canonical” by the fans.) I also repeated the story of why Dalton appeared in only two entries into the franchise: a legal dispute forced the series into an involuntary hiatus until after his contract to play the character had expired.<br /><br />But turning my mind to the idea of Dalton as Bond also revived an old, half-forgotten memory. The time was about 1990, or sometime not long after <i>Licence to Kill</i> failed — unjustifiably — to live up to expectations at the box office. I was watching one of those TV shows of entertainment news, perhaps <i>Entertainment Tonight</i>. I seem to remember one of the talking heads saying that because of <i>Licence to Kill</i>’s underperformance, the Bond producers wanted Dalton removed from the role and for it to be recast with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierce_Brosnan" target="_blank">Pierce Brosnan</a>, who was originally cast in the part but became suddenly unavailable and replaced by Dalton. However, this would have been before the legal squabble that derailed the Bond films for a few years until Dalton’s contract had lapsed, the reason we were told that he had stepped away from the series. <br /><br />I started wondering: Was the narrative of Dalton’s tenure as Bond being cut short by the legal dispute merely a cover story for his being forced out of the role by Hollywood higher-ups because of his films’ lackluster ticket sales? <br /><br />I posted my rumination on <a href="https://twitter.com/Twitter?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, and sure enough, several minutes later, someone replied to my post with a newspaper clipping from when <i>Licence to Kill</i> was still in release, a clipping saying that the “studio bosses” wanted the dour Dalton out as Bond and replaced by the more convivial Brosnan. Reading the newspaper clipping, said to have been published in the <i>Irish Independent</i> (perhaps interested in the story because Brosnan is from Ireland), it’s difficult not to suspect that Dalton was forced out of playing Bond by the studio heads, and the coincidental years-long legal dispute served as a face-saving story to explain why he didn't resume the role. <br /><br />Given that Dalton was reportedly reluctant to take on Bond from the get-go suggests that his vacating the role — voluntarily or otherwise — wasn’t the most serious of blows, and his high regard for the 007 film series in his interviews in the years since his departure suggests that there are no hard feelings on his part. <br /><br />Still, Dalton remains one of the most intriguing interpreters of James Bond on screen, and as I’ve said before, I’m sorry that he only got to play the role a paltry two times when <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrayal_of_James_Bond_in_film" target="_blank">his fellow Bond actors</a> (except for the critically unchampioned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Lazenby" target="_blank">George Lazenby</a>) got to play the secret agent on multiple occasions. <br /><br />But the enthusiasm abounding on Twitter for Dalton’s performance in <i>Licence to Kill</i>, and for the film itself, implies that the actor and his movies are finally finding their audience after all this time. I hope so. I think that Timothy Dalton’s two efforts as James Bond, <i>The Living Daylights</i> and <i>Licence to Kill</i>, will age better than some other films in the series. </span></span></p><p><br /></p><p></p>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/quHQAuO0lkg" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-65755844589338071392022-07-07T00:02:00.047-07:002022-08-05T23:14:04.189-07:00Resequencing ‘Sandinista!’<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oeh1h6gsLVBKnEu3ChVIu2n_puDb3IBMnmzZyX8yH6MgpBww6FJbrVHItsIjTzRMqMBF8gy2BFmeTYvILb4dGS8RS0i7qhsFUGnlUNR0e_Q4bZaUWAbRTXEe_xqm1TK9JmI7niArJfxpZLehTQUYZtQagJBMEhTa86Hv-8PiYel_W8uI9UCQ8R8vlw/s1500/DB40EAE5-94F8-4A1A-BF2B-33A7458F0AE7.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1500" height="522" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1oeh1h6gsLVBKnEu3ChVIu2n_puDb3IBMnmzZyX8yH6MgpBww6FJbrVHItsIjTzRMqMBF8gy2BFmeTYvILb4dGS8RS0i7qhsFUGnlUNR0e_Q4bZaUWAbRTXEe_xqm1TK9JmI7niArJfxpZLehTQUYZtQagJBMEhTa86Hv-8PiYel_W8uI9UCQ8R8vlw/w522-h522/DB40EAE5-94F8-4A1A-BF2B-33A7458F0AE7.jpeg" width="522" /></a></div><p></p><p><span>I love <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clash" target="_blank">the Clash</a>, the U.K. rock band that did the most to push popular music past the tedium of the 1970s disco era and prove that the hard-driving punk/“new wave” sound wasn’t just a Sex Pistols-style novelty act. After two relatively unheralded albums, <i>The Clash</i> (1977) and <i>Give ’Em Enough Rope</i> (1978), the group broke through to a wider audience and critical acclaim with their third entry: the double-disc <i>London Caling</i> (1979). But as much as I love the Clash, I never quite connected with their fourth album: </span><span><span>the three-platter </span><i><span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandinista!" target="_blank">Sandinista!</a> </span></i><span>(1980), which I bought on vinyl when it was first released.</span> <br /></span></p><p><span>I appreciated the album’s songs, but </span><i><span>Sandinista!</span></i><span> seemed like such a hodgepodge of styles and influences that I couldn’t quite wrap my head around its two-hour-plus playing time. For a long time, I’ve thought that if the songs appeared in a different sequence, it might give more body and form to the album, making its songs and the ideas behind them more digestible. I’m sure many a music maven will say that </span><i><span>Sandinista!</span></i><span>’s enormity and amorphousness is part of its genius, but not every Clash fan (such as the one I see in the mirror) is so astute. </span></p><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><span>So, for my own amusement, I re-ordered not long ago the sequence of </span><i><span>Sandinista!</span></i><span>’s songs on my iPhone to give, for me at least, a better sense of rise and fall, of perceptual passage, to the album’s unfolding. I decided to leave the record’s opening track, “The Magnificent Seven,” with its booming bass-line, in place. Imagining in terms of the original six-sided LP (with six songs per side, just like the initial vinyl release), I thought that I would place, if I could, the catchiest songs (potential singles) as the third track on each “side,” giving the “narrative arc” of each something to build up to and depart from, but I also wanted memorable, thought-provoking, groove-worthy tracks for each “side’s” beginning and ending. </span></p><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><span>Also, I hoped for each song to be followed by another that was different in style and drive, something that stood in contrast to what was just heard, making each number more memorable. However, since there were six of them that stood apart from the other songs, I did decide to put all of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dub_music" target="_blank">dub tracks</a> on one “side,” and I put the two tracks with children singing (“Broadway” and the remake of “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Career_Opportunities_(song)" target="_blank">Career Opportunities</a>”) next to each other, so that one would lead into the next. Moreover, I made the three tracks introduced by spoken voices (“Lightning Strikes [Not Once but Twice],” “Let’s Go Crazy,” and “Version City”) the opening numbers for three of the “sides,” as a way to introduce each sequence. Finally, I made sure that each “side” fell within a certain time range, so that my theoretical LP wouldn’t have any sides unworkably longer or shorter than the others. </span></p><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><span>So, here is what I came up with for my reimagining of the Clash’s </span><i><span>Sandinista!</span></i><span> (I’m sure you’ll agree it’s time well spent):</span></p><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><i><span>Unless otherwise noted, all songs written by the Clash: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topper_Headon" target="_blank">Topper Headon</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mick_Jones_(The_Clash_guitarist)" target="_blank">Mick Jones</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simonon" target="_blank">Paul Simonon</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Simonon" target="_blank">Joe Strummer</a>.</span></i></p><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 1 </span></b><span>(24:20)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Magnificent Seven</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(Mick Jones, Joe Strummer, Topper Headon, Norman Watt-Roy, Mickey Gallagher) </span></i><span>(5:33)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Rebel Waltz</span></b><span> (3:26)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Somebody Got Murdered</span></b><span> (3:34)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Junco Partner (Knocked Out Loaded)</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(Traditional — Wikipedia says Bob Shad) </span></i><span>(4:52)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Ivan Meets G.I. Joe</span></b><span> (3:05)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Washington Bullets</span></b><span> (3:52)</span></li></ol><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 2</span></b><span> (22:03)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Hitsville U.K. </span></b><span>(4:22)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Street Parade</span></b><span> (3:27)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Police on My Back</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(Eddy Grant) </span></i><span>(3:17)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Equaliser</span></b><span> (5:47)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Leader</span></b><span> (1:42)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>One More Time</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(The Clash, Mikey Dread) </span></i><span>(3:32)</span></li></ol><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 3 </span></b><span>(24:35)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Lightning Strikes (Not Once but Twice) (</span></b><span>4:51)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Crooked Beat</span></b><span> (5:28)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Charlie Don’t Surf</span></b><span> (4:54)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Midnight Log</span></b><span> (2:10)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Corner Soul</span></b><span> (2:42)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)</span></b><span> (4:32)</span></li></ol><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 4 </span></b><span>(24:27)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Let’s Go Crazy</span></b><span> (4:24)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Call-Up</span></b><span> (5:28)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Lose This Skin</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(Tymon Dogg) </span></i><span>(5:08)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Kingston Advice</span></b><span> (2:37)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Junkie Slip</span></b><span> (2:49)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>The Sound of Sinners</span></b><span> (4:01)</span></li></ol><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 5</span></b><span> (the dub side) (25:12)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Living in Fame</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(The Clash, Mikey Dread) </span></i><span>(4:50)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Silicone on Sapphire</span></b><span> (4:17)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Version Pardner</span></b><span> (5:23)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Mensforth Hill</span></b><span> (3:42)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>One More Dub</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(The Clash, Mikey Dread) </span></i><span>(3:36)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Shepherds Delight</span></b><span> (3:28)</span></li></ol><p> </p><p class="jlfdnvsn" dir="auto"><b><span>Side 6 </span></b><span>(23:43)</span></p><ol class="gg216y78" dir="auto"><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Version City</span></b><span> (4:23)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Look Here</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(Mose Allison) </span></i><span>(2:45)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Broadway</span></b><span> (5:48)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Career Opportunities</span></b><span> (2:30)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>If Music Could Talk</span></b><span> </span><i><span>(The Clash, Mikey Dread) </span></i><span>(4:36)</span></li><li class="jlfdnvsn"><b><span>Something About England</span></b><span> (3:42)</span></li></ol> <br /><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-56382458578383822262022-06-28T23:19:00.000-07:002022-06-28T23:19:53.587-07:00Seth Meyers: ‘Corrupt Republicans Shredded the Supreme Court’s Legitimacy with “Roe” Ruling’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RGS4-7WMWhI" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-5979212033370304882022-05-06T12:50:00.000-07:002022-05-06T12:50:25.485-07:00Linda Greenhouse: ‘Justice Alito’s Invisible Women’<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHQIWncbSGZ2NYAkkumzwUE_scipaUzoO4NRmkEnJfxz_CM_q2Eq2OwcTout_EcbSCMumo8qni_WRyEOaAFHp8VlWtTljgyhRHTBTkdu4omJQX38NQ_2K8IGV0pKyBpYG4fZS9AP3pJ7DZ3-KMAmx-8vHd7VED91I5z12qSLvZesMl4lR0JTR0817Qw/s680/37AEA5B3-64DD-4952-AF46-44422395ABAD.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="510" data-original-width="680" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwHQIWncbSGZ2NYAkkumzwUE_scipaUzoO4NRmkEnJfxz_CM_q2Eq2OwcTout_EcbSCMumo8qni_WRyEOaAFHp8VlWtTljgyhRHTBTkdu4omJQX38NQ_2K8IGV0pKyBpYG4fZS9AP3pJ7DZ3-KMAmx-8vHd7VED91I5z12qSLvZesMl4lR0JTR0817Qw/w455-h341/37AEA5B3-64DD-4952-AF46-44422395ABAD.jpeg" width="455" /> </a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> From the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/" target="_blank"><i>New York Times</i></a>:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Yes, the leak of the draft opinion that would overturn <i>Roe v. Wade</i> was a shock. And it was shocking to read Justice Samuel Alito’s airy dismissal of a decision the Supreme Court has reaffirmed numerous times in the past 49 years as “egregiously wrong from the start.” That was on Page 6 of the draft opinion that <i>Politico</i> published last Monday, and Justice Alito spent the next 61 pages explaining why, in his view and perhaps ultimately in the view of four other justices, the court needs to overturn <i>Roe</i> now.<br /><br />But the real shock to me was not what those 67 pages contain — mostly warmed-over stock phrases from the anti-abortion playbook that read like a law clerk’s cut-and-paste job — but rather who is missing: women.<br /><br />Women were largely absent from <i>Roe v. Wade</i> too. While <i>Roe</i> exists in the culture as some kind of feminist screed about the right to abortion, it was anything but that. If people set preconceptions aside and actually read Justice Harry Blackmun’s opinion, they would see that <i>Roe</i> was really a decision about the right of doctors to exercise their judgment about a patient’s best interest without risking prosecution and prison. How else to interpret this summary sentence from near the end of the opinion? “The decision vindicates the right of the physician to administer medical treatment according to his professional judgment up to the points where important state interests provide compelling justifications for intervention.”</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">...</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">That was then. Forty-nine years later, we live in a different constitutional universe — or thought we did. Mississippi, defending a ban on virtually all abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy that is flatly unconstitutional under current Supreme Court precedents, is asking the court to overturn those precedents. Granted that the young Samuel Alito, as a recent Princeton graduate, joined an organization of conservatives who sought to limit the inclusion of women at his alma mater. Granted that he has made clear his desire to overturn <i>Roe</i> since even before his days on the court. It is still astonishing that in 2022 he would use his power to erase the right to abortion without in any way meaningfully acknowledging the impact both on women and on the constitutional understanding of sex equality as it has evolved in the past half-century. </span><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/05/opinion/abortion-alito-discrimination.html" target="_blank">Read the full story.</a><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"> <br /></div>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-82441539230494791382022-05-04T01:50:00.000-07:002022-05-04T01:50:34.978-07:00Peggy Cooper Davis: ‘The Reconstruction amendments matter when considering abortion rights’<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_InXt1wI7RqL5FZps9xbC8RgDP_yQoJaYGwICsxcmZZjCjK2q-lJ8Kuay8B6rZQkyfUJiEGeysolMyl-84Y5jfOF_Vomd5dwFF7PGBbPZjkUA5bG0ZEFSzGC-PHaRIOinegNj-RhIrT29gcTW1vBZgacaIiJfjJceVfeAKkOmiPsk8qovov98eGvC_A/s916/9C08A941-3564-4E85-93F9-28AB24D4828A.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="916" height="370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_InXt1wI7RqL5FZps9xbC8RgDP_yQoJaYGwICsxcmZZjCjK2q-lJ8Kuay8B6rZQkyfUJiEGeysolMyl-84Y5jfOF_Vomd5dwFF7PGBbPZjkUA5bG0ZEFSzGC-PHaRIOinegNj-RhIrT29gcTW1vBZgacaIiJfjJceVfeAKkOmiPsk8qovov98eGvC_A/w524-h370/9C08A941-3564-4E85-93F9-28AB24D4828A.jpeg" width="524" /></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com" target="_blank"><i>Washington Post</i></a>:</span></p><div class="teaser-content grid-center"><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md" data-el="text" data-qa="drop-cap-letter"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On Monday night [May 2, 2022], <i>Politico</i> reported that a Supreme Court made significantly more conservative by President Donald Trump’s appointments had voted in an initial conference on a Mississippi abortion case to overturn the line of decisions beginning with <i>Roe </i>v. <i>Wade </i>in
1973 that provide the right to have an abortion. The bombshell report
also included a draft opinion that it said Justice Samuel Alito had
written.</span></span></p></div></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md" data-el="text" data-qa="drop-cap-letter"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The
Founders may not have intended in 1789 to secure for the people of the
United States liberty to choose whether to continue a pregnancy. The
framers of the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights are not
known to have contemplated abortion choice as it relates to the balance
between individual and family autonomy on the one hand and state power
on the other.</span></span></p></div><div class="article-body" data-qa="article-body"><p class="font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md" data-el="text" data-qa="drop-cap-letter"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But,
the Constitution underwent a radical transformation after the Civil
War. A document that had tolerated human bondage and been interpreted to
deny Black people the privileges of citizenship was amended to embrace
principles of human equality and republican freedom. The 13th Amendment
secured the blessings of liberty by ending slavery. The 14th Amendment
protected against unwarranted invasions of human liberty.</span></span></p><p class="font-copy font--article-body gray-darkest ma-0 pb-md" data-el="text" data-qa="drop-cap-letter"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="font-size: large;">The lawmakers who implemented those changes did so in direct response to
slavery’s heartless separations of families and to enslavers’ brutal
practices of human breeding. </span><br /></span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/05/03/reconstruction-amendments-matter-when-considering-abortion-rights/?pwapi_token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWJpZCI6IjMyMzMzMTIiLCJyZWFzb24iOiJnaWZ0IiwibmJmIjoxNjUxNjM1NzQ2LCJpc3MiOiJzdWJzY3JpcHRpb25zIiwiZXhwIjoxNjUyODQ1MzQ2LCJpYXQiOjE2NTE2MzU3NDYsImp0aSI6IjE2ODA0NDI1LWVjMzYtNGNlMi1iZjNjLWNlNzM2OTUwMWE2ZiIsInVybCI6Imh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lndhc2hpbmd0b25wb3N0LmNvbS9vdXRsb29rLzIwMjIvMDUvMDMvcmVjb25zdHJ1Y3Rpb24tYW1lbmRtZW50cy1tYXR0ZXItd2hlbi1jb25zaWRlcmluZy1hYm9ydGlvbi1yaWdodHMvIn0.p5DGP_r4RP3NxmRptW5sUDmpCEEsCPV8cx6ilReGTMU" target="_blank">Read the full story.</a></span><br /></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-83034743954704899442022-05-03T23:34:00.003-07:002022-05-04T06:51:12.562-07:00Brian Tyler Cohen: ‘Elizabeth Warren goes megaviral with stunning speech after “Roe” news’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/i6DI3vPup-s" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-53451467474055571922022-04-22T21:09:00.000-07:002022-04-22T21:09:26.501-07:00Bill Maher: ‘The [Republicans’] War on Democracy’<p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GDkjjGZ92NQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe> </p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">Bill Maher has been directing a lot of his verbal fire at Democrats lately — and with them in charge in the White House and in the Congress, that’s understandable. But he’s also been getting a lot of stuff wrong lately. The plight of people of color seems to be particularly off Maher’s radar. He’s been needlessly cynical regarding health regulations in the wake of the coronavirus. And because of this, he’s come down with foot-in-mouth disease several times over the last year and a half. But he’s still spot-on when it comes to articulating the threat posed to U.S. democracy by the Republican Party. This is his best “New Rule” in a while.</span></p><p><br /></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-67927024275019345322022-04-20T07:17:00.001-07:002022-04-20T17:22:09.762-07:00Brian Tyler Cohen: ‘Michigan Democrat Gives the Most Viral Speech of the Year’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kf3SR_INw70" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-43029295780351781312022-04-17T16:46:00.002-07:002022-04-18T16:57:29.467-07:00Paul Waldman: ‘Republicans just gave us a terrifying preview of their 2024 strategy’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7F7K0UnYG5He41dZz96AqG7Y6t9ugUWJeEw0QlMEpPXc0rrUas7BRAMO37Fusml8DFPg6j-Shqswdhq2S8dSA6ood7H1DEZ2PBhQuAr--FcBDnEI9mvTIt0UwU8y4GUCen2kYVuM5LAhyomzmvtBjgA-75bib-BLNZS-6cOMRFanPqSVEYqQfp-GVA/s1600/5BDAB33C-F047-44AF-B57B-CC08D3AE54C2.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="412" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr7F7K0UnYG5He41dZz96AqG7Y6t9ugUWJeEw0QlMEpPXc0rrUas7BRAMO37Fusml8DFPg6j-Shqswdhq2S8dSA6ood7H1DEZ2PBhQuAr--FcBDnEI9mvTIt0UwU8y4GUCen2kYVuM5LAhyomzmvtBjgA-75bib-BLNZS-6cOMRFanPqSVEYqQfp-GVA/w412-h412/5BDAB33C-F047-44AF-B57B-CC08D3AE54C2.jpeg" width="412" /></a></div><p> <span style="font-family: georgia;">From the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/" target="_blank"><i>Washington Post</i></a>: <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">If Republicans
announce now, two-and-a-half years in advance, that they’re refusing to
participate in the debates, it could save them a last-minute act of
cowardice. But the more important reason they’re doing this is to
reinforce the idea that every institution and practice associated with
the presidential campaign must be considered corrupt and biased against
Trump and therefore illegitimate, whether it’s the news media, the
debates, maybe even the weather — and especially the vote counting.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/04/15/republicans-debates-2024-strategy-illegitimate/" target="_blank">Read the full story. </a><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-84173399952228187912022-04-14T08:53:00.000-07:002022-04-14T08:53:08.835-07:00Jonathan Chait: ‘Why Ketanji Brown Jackson will be the last Democratic justice for a long time’<p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInGhZ5tN1XGfBoAjyXXu-eqX6G9lrk4oEakiMZJ4ClW8kEEaTD6TDL6ofrPf9WqlEGHzro0hcjfBumjuu1-zALaEfddPk7k1YoSQb-q5oZ7zqCAfo2wnK9J_Hk3OngQ0XzNlhaOx4956auOdYyCrndWDQmeccyvb37q85GVybdzzG2ck37DLklocf2w/s1600/13C77634-6E5B-47CC-9545-AC93C6315995.jpeg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="306" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInGhZ5tN1XGfBoAjyXXu-eqX6G9lrk4oEakiMZJ4ClW8kEEaTD6TDL6ofrPf9WqlEGHzro0hcjfBumjuu1-zALaEfddPk7k1YoSQb-q5oZ7zqCAfo2wnK9J_Hk3OngQ0XzNlhaOx4956auOdYyCrndWDQmeccyvb37q85GVybdzzG2ck37DLklocf2w/w543-h306/13C77634-6E5B-47CC-9545-AC93C6315995.jpeg" width="543" /></a> </p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <i><a href="https://nymag.com/" target="_blank">New York</a> </i>magazine:<br /></span></p><p class="clay-paragraph_drop-cap" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/_components/clay-paragraph/instances/cl1v796dm000i3xoe67udfc06@published" data-word-count="34" style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">On the surface,<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Ketanji Brown Jackson’s confirmation to the Supreme Court appeared to portend a hopeful future for liberals. She was the bright, youthful (as these things go) face of a more enlightened judiciary.</span></p><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/_components/clay-paragraph/instances/cl1v79j9p000r3f6qx3cq9e7x@published" data-word-count="78" style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But appearances can be deceiving. A more accurate picture of the Court’s future could actually be discerned from two other stories that flanked it. The first was<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Ginni Thomas’s ravings<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to Donald Trump’s chief of staff — more specifically, the nonplussed response thereto from the Republican Establishment, which is perfectly satisfied to allow a prominent conservative activist to draw on her connection to an esteemed conservative jurist to promote QAnon-inflected conspiracy theories in the highest corridors of power.</span></p><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/_components/clay-paragraph/instances/cl1v79jd1000s3f6qb9pbbu1q@published" data-word-count="54" style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The second was Mitch McConnell’s<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>refusal<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>to commit to hold any hearings for a potential Supreme Court vacancy should his party win a Senate majority when prodded by Jonathan Swan. McConnell made it clear that Jackson is likely the last Supreme Court justice Democrats will nominate for years, maybe even a decade or more.</span></p><p class="clay-paragraph" data-editable="text" data-uri="nymag.com/intelligencer/_components/clay-paragraph/instances/cl1v79jxz000t3f6qapyzvd7i@published" data-word-count="40" style="-moz-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; box-sizing: inherit; color: black; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 20px; position: relative; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Jackson’s confirmation was a brief, joyful respite. The future is a semi-permanent Republican judicial majority in which, contrary to the visual impression, Thomas’s worldview is much closer to the mainstream and Jackson’s is a relic of a rapidly fading past.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p><a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/04/why-kbj-will-be-the-last-democratic-justice-for-a-long-time.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Read the full story. </span></a><br /></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-64057682290921255212022-02-05T16:36:00.000-08:002022-02-05T16:36:18.279-08:00Leigh McGowan: ‘R.N.C. Abandons Democracy’<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@breakfastrant/video/7061014804575800623" data-video-id="7061014804575800623" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;" > <section> <a target="_blank" title="@breakfastrant" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@breakfastrant">@breakfastrant</a> <p>Please take this seriously. It’s real & it’s happening.</p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - BreakfastRant" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7061014835273763630">♬ original sound - BreakfastRant</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-41120057929702489992022-02-04T23:56:00.003-08:002022-02-05T16:35:45.693-08:00‘Chris Hayes Rips Neil Gorsuch for Private Speech at Conservative Event’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hCgBiTWN3Og" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-83382568029894231272021-12-24T21:01:00.011-08:002022-04-14T08:54:24.029-07:00Melissa Block: ‘The clear and present danger of Trump’s enduring “Big Lie”’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU5RVse_VMfzofIMDC0pZ_2BGBMtKgSFa22TUZ4gKt7HA1HdSMv2kySj58pZlIYUCwgiZb21lhkz_Pz5h0kJy51r5jrsXqRHdATkcag9lOvJqruX_O3KhM7CizKhXAfqy3PbwVywVye_GVOfRtwXQykrAiabLRk_WUEhX0UjOWzX8NrOeeVdftVzPCRQ=s758" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="504" data-original-width="758" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjU5RVse_VMfzofIMDC0pZ_2BGBMtKgSFa22TUZ4gKt7HA1HdSMv2kySj58pZlIYUCwgiZb21lhkz_Pz5h0kJy51r5jrsXqRHdATkcag9lOvJqruX_O3KhM7CizKhXAfqy3PbwVywVye_GVOfRtwXQykrAiabLRk_WUEhX0UjOWzX8NrOeeVdftVzPCRQ=w537-h358" width="537" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.npr.org/" target="_blank">NPR</a>: <br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">It’s been nearly a year since the United States suffered an unprecedented attack on constitutional democracy.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><div class="bucketwrap internallink mediapromo primary" id="res1065840030"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">When a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, the goal
was to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and
install Donald Trump to a second term. </span></span></div><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Call it an insurrection or a coup attempt, it was fueled by what’s known as the “Big Lie”: the verifiably false assertion that Trump won. Joe Biden won 306 votes in the Electoral College, while Trump received 232. In the popular vote, Biden won by more than 7 million votes.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></span><div class="bucketwrap internallink insettwocolumn inset2col " id="res1065841219">
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</span></span><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Many are warning that over the past year, that “big lie” of a stolen election has grown more entrenched and more dangerous.</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></p><p><a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/12/23/1065277246/trump-big-lie-jan-6-election" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Read the full story. </span></a><br /></p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-6673743711920957672021-12-18T01:35:00.000-08:002021-12-18T01:35:18.602-08:00Amanda Marcotte: ‘What Republicans know that Democrats don’t: Power matters more than policy’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh55DNiRXU9jXmaeD28lnSIlsYi5Mwmnk3Iu5K3Q5rd5WLjaE23I5Rp8vOolVfZyKFFVFU64fgfCQqZp9r4WxSpCVTJVUqPARde2sT6GWyzYGnAwjUhuKv3QQpdy3Pi4lAHeVSYFyncyMi_lUBF82-MoSvLjZ6EmXhzltDY8Qe7iWW-5XgoMkMJt9PRxw=s3264" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2448" data-original-width="3264" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh55DNiRXU9jXmaeD28lnSIlsYi5Mwmnk3Iu5K3Q5rd5WLjaE23I5Rp8vOolVfZyKFFVFU64fgfCQqZp9r4WxSpCVTJVUqPARde2sT6GWyzYGnAwjUhuKv3QQpdy3Pi4lAHeVSYFyncyMi_lUBF82-MoSvLjZ6EmXhzltDY8Qe7iWW-5XgoMkMJt9PRxw=w528-h396" width="528" /></a></div><p><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="http://www.salon.com" target="_blank"><i>Salon</i></a>: <br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;">After days of rumors swirling among reporters on Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden confirmed it late Thursday evening: The Build Back Better plan is not going to pass this year. Which almost certainly means that the timeline for passing it is never.<br /><br />Biden, of course, denied that “never” is in the cards. Instead, he released a statement to reporters, claiming, “My team and I are having ongoing discussions” with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), the primary holdout stopping Democrats from passing the bill through the Senate. “Leader Schumer and I are determined to see the bill successfully on the floor as early as possible,” Biden insisted. <br /><br />Still, there’s good reason for skepticism.<br /><br />As I note in Friday’s Standing Room Only newsletter, the past 11 months have made it impossible to believe that Manchin is negotiating in good faith. Instead, every move Manchin makes suggests that his plan is what skeptics thought it was all along: pull out the few items that he and his rich benefactors approve of to pass through a slim bipartisan bill, and then doom the larger Build Back Better plan by wasting time with fake objections until Republicans retake Congress and permanently destroy it. Manchin explodes with hair-trigger defensiveness at even the mildest question that reminds him his “support” for the policies in Build Back Better is a big, fat lie. This is not the behavior of a man who actually intends to vote for a bill he keeps swearing he’s one more tweak away from supporting. </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/12/17/what-know-that-democrats-dont-power-matters-more-than-policy/" target="_blank">Read the full story</a></span><br /> </p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-348656108627458162021-12-15T01:10:00.004-08:002022-01-01T01:13:38.424-08:00P.B.S. Newshour: ‘How Fox News personalities amplified divisions, disinformation around January 6’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iC0-up5Fmfg" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-74970638383674357082021-12-11T00:03:00.000-08:002021-12-11T00:03:49.103-08:00Zack Beauchamp: ‘American democracy is tottering. It’s not clear Americans care.’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoFtCBjAN64vH4UY3uc9MAtlRlrulelua2hFyVGLYcaQelDzxEUVTyOJFDFPJdw_6x9cLmaIUsdxej40az7ZjsfqtM_v1qr1hhXWkCMrQNijq0oedKYZhOabpxBw5eVDf4g2BfWNscP2eXbRJNZrDivKSA6pZLkFOwBJiuKZZmB3LGnh1lV9pUIX1IZw=s732" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="486" data-original-width="732" height="343" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjoFtCBjAN64vH4UY3uc9MAtlRlrulelua2hFyVGLYcaQelDzxEUVTyOJFDFPJdw_6x9cLmaIUsdxej40az7ZjsfqtM_v1qr1hhXWkCMrQNijq0oedKYZhOabpxBw5eVDf4g2BfWNscP2eXbRJNZrDivKSA6pZLkFOwBJiuKZZmB3LGnh1lV9pUIX1IZw=w519-h343" width="519" /></a></div><p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.vox.com/" target="_blank"><i>Vox</i></a>: <br /></span></p><p id="ZW6PCh"><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span><span style="font-size: large;">There is no doubt that democracy in the United States is at serious risk.
The year began with an attack on the Capitol designed to thwart the
transition of power; instead of repudiating this violence, Republicans
doubled down on the lie that Trump won the election and are working,
right now, to rig the system in their favor. Neither Democrats nor the general public are doing much of anything to stop them. </span></p><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><p id="DgYscB"><span style="font-size: large;">Several pieces of legislation on voting rights have been
stopped cold by the filibuster, as neither Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ)
nor Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) seems willing to make an exception to the archaic Senate rule in order to protect democracy. Meanwhile, the voters who care are mostly <em>Republican</em><strong> </strong>partisans, believers in Trump’s lies about 2020. An October poll found that 71 percent of Republicans believe democracy is facing a “major threat,” as compared to just 35 percent of Democrats.</span></p><p id="DgYscB"><span style="font-size: large;">Experts on democracy warn that America is sleepwalking toward a
disaster, a situation where the electoral playing field is so tilted in
the GOP’s favor that America’s people no longer have a meaningful voice
in who [governs] them.</span></p><p id="DgYscB"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span> <br /></p><p><a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2021/12/9/22824509/summit-for-democracy-biden-america" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Read the full story.</span></a><br /></p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-23100929916978676762021-12-10T12:15:00.001-08:002021-12-11T12:18:33.113-08:00Mike Nesmith (1942-2021)<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/AweItvbPmBQ" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-45286849107733582732021-11-02T22:50:00.001-07:002021-11-02T22:50:26.986-07:00Leigh McGowan: ‘Democrats: Find Your Fight’<blockquote class="tiktok-embed" cite="https://www.tiktok.com/@breakfastrant/video/7003845481268825350" data-video-id="7003845481268825350" style="max-width: 605px;min-width: 325px;" > <section> <a target="_blank" title="@breakfastrant" href="https://www.tiktok.com/@breakfastrant">@breakfastrant</a> <p><a title="fight" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/fight">##fight</a> <a title="right" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/right">##right</a> <a title="politics" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/politics">##politics</a> <a title="rage" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/rage">##rage</a> <a title="women" target="_blank" href="https://www.tiktok.com/tag/women">##women</a></p> <a target="_blank" title="♬ original sound - BreakfastRant" href="https://www.tiktok.com/music/original-sound-7003845305091377925">♬ original sound - BreakfastRant</a> </section> </blockquote> <script async src="https://www.tiktok.com/embed.js"></script>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-64722424395789651642021-10-09T01:02:00.000-07:002021-10-09T01:02:22.434-07:00Bill Maher: ‘The Slow-Moving Coup’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7cR4fXcsu9w" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-10358387349202552862021-10-07T14:54:00.000-07:002021-10-07T14:54:22.678-07:00S.E. Cupp: ‘Wake up, everyone. We are fiddling while America burns’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2Qi-YRgNTTw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-81280860209447085562021-09-29T15:48:00.000-07:002021-09-29T15:48:45.843-07:00Zack Stanton: ‘What If 2020 Was Just a Rehearsal?’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVRhTJ3e4u8fbgu7J_2Pezs-Vf-5hb6DpGbbbT0R3DxY1xiBNuWgd8S5bUXpIWnd4p-8cZj7IObBHqXCBBVsAVEo38kRn6ClBkDdt_8QK_JzYSNfo4B6paFJhSwbgeYt5ZR4s0HgbxAOK/s1100/D7FFC241-CB44-48ED-9BCF-BC50E0B62458.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="619" data-original-width="1100" height="329" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFVRhTJ3e4u8fbgu7J_2Pezs-Vf-5hb6DpGbbbT0R3DxY1xiBNuWgd8S5bUXpIWnd4p-8cZj7IObBHqXCBBVsAVEo38kRn6ClBkDdt_8QK_JzYSNfo4B6paFJhSwbgeYt5ZR4s0HgbxAOK/w585-h329/D7FFC241-CB44-48ED-9BCF-BC50E0B62458.jpeg" width="585" /></a></div><p> <span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.politico.com/" target="_blank"><i>Politico</i></a>:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Rick Hasen isn’t getting much sleep these days.
</span></span></p><p class=" story-text__paragraph"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">One of the nation’s foremost experts
on the laws that hold together democracy in America, Hasen used to be
concerned about highly speculative<b> </b>election “nightmare
scenarios”: the electrical grid being hacked on Election Day, or the
pandemic warping turnout, or absentee ballots totally overwhelming the
postal service. But now, what keeps him up at night aren’t fanciful
“what if” exercises: It’s what has actually happened over that past nine
months, and how it could truly blow up in the next presidential
election.</span></span></p><p class=" story-text__paragraph"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">For
the first time in American history, the losing candidate refused to
concede the election — and rather than dismissing him as a sore loser, a
startling number of Americans have followed Donald Trump down his
conspiratorial rabbit hole. The safeguards that ensured he left office
last January after losing the presidential election may be crumbling:
The election officials who certified the counts may no longer be in
place next time he falsely claims victory; if Republicans take Congress,
a compliant Speaker could easily decide it’s simply not in his interest
to let the party’s leader lose.</span></span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">
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</span></span><p class=" story-text__paragraph" data-content-child-index="0-0"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">“You
could look at 2020 as the nadir of American democratic processes, or
you could look at it as a dress rehearsal,” says Hasen, a professor of
law at UC Irvine.</span></span></p><p class=" story-text__paragraph" data-content-child-index="0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class=" story-text__paragraph" data-content-child-index="0-0"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/09/26/trump-politics-american-democracy-threat-2021-2022-analysis-514180?utm_source=pocket-newtab" target="_blank">Read the full story. </a></span><br /></p><p class=" story-text__paragraph"> </p><p> </p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-47701773632258353772021-09-27T01:16:00.000-07:002021-09-27T01:16:32.147-07:00Will Bunch: ‘The survival of U.S. democracy may hinge on this decision by Pennsylvania’s next governor’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY01qQrVTTReVzesSMU13letHNNn4SsXmA2S01tUe1aB6ZuOZsuUPy9dBvGWCDVv06JBgbwvh0GGyehol4UpziJap_C8xMky8ZAVGGiI6pothsoX4YrTMIJng3Tjnh1VDeQh7fHjeEHg6C/s2048/2C81D931-C636-4113-9838-4AB18DCE5606.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="328" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY01qQrVTTReVzesSMU13letHNNn4SsXmA2S01tUe1aB6ZuOZsuUPy9dBvGWCDVv06JBgbwvh0GGyehol4UpziJap_C8xMky8ZAVGGiI6pothsoX4YrTMIJng3Tjnh1VDeQh7fHjeEHg6C/w584-h328/2C81D931-C636-4113-9838-4AB18DCE5606.jpeg" width="584" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/"><i>The Inquirer</i></a>:</span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">To millions of Americans, what just happened in Arizona’s largest county was a laughingstock, a bad joke that blew up in the face of Donald Trump and his cultists like some exploding cigar from a 1940s cartoon. A GOP-approved hijacking of voting records and machines from the 2020 election — do not dare call it an “audit” — conducted by a scammy-is-too-good-a-word contractor called the Cyber Ninjas that dragged on through much of 2021 ultimately claimed that any miscounted votes actually expanded President Biden’s win in Maricopa County. The cackling on left-leaning Twitter and MSNBC Friday night could be heard from Key West to Kalamazoo.</span></span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">But one man — a Michigan carpetbagger turned Arizona politico named Mark Finchem — had a very different interpretation of what the conspiracy-minded voting sleuths had uncovered with official Republican support. “I call for decertification of the Arizona election, arrest of those involved in tampering with election systems, and an audit of Pima County [in northern Arizona] as a next step,” Finchem tweeted Friday.</span></span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The crazy part is that Finchem’s minority viewpoints on Donald Trump and his invisible claims of election fraud may matter a heck of a lot more than yours or mine come the 2024 vote counting. Last week, the disgraced 45th president (and would-be 47th) officially endorsed Finchem, now a state lawmaker, in his 2022 GOP primary bid to become Arizona’s next secretary of state. Trump’s imprimatur makes Finchem the instant primary favorite, in a midterm election in which both history and newfangled voter suppression favors Republicans.</span></span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">That means Finchem — not just a garden-variety Trumpist but a member of the extremist Oath Keepers who was on the Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 insurrection — could be Arizona’s chief vote counter if and when the bleats of voter fraud and a stolen election again emerge from Mar-a-Lago in three years.</span></span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"> </span></p><p class="leading-relaxed text-md mb-lg font-ringside-regular font-normal mt-0" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; caret-color: rgb(22, 24, 58); color: #16183a; font-family: "Ringside Regular SSm", Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.625; margin-bottom: 24px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/trump-election-fraud-pennsylvania-2022-election-20210926.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: georgia;">Read the full story. </span></a><br /></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-34879119102860228952021-09-26T19:08:00.003-07:002021-09-28T21:43:19.374-07:00CNN: ‘Pamela Brown on how Trump’s Big Lie will affect future elections’<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SKcayeTV_gU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6952211792979552448.post-77138599053025645312021-09-03T14:56:00.000-07:002021-09-03T14:56:27.135-07:00Ian Millheiser: ‘The staggering implications of the Supreme Court’s Texas anti-abortion ruling’<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohCEpIYM1b7YRKoOruaO43QI5b6NrXawXrvcHJNDVn8tj3JLoImkqawLA74OIQ_8FxnB1FJsD0_vef9ctq78Gi1EFdhvmIUqZolap7Y698JoGjQyMNP_DNIEwyPGYXPXH8ovqU_c6KtnR/s850/DADFB4C3-66B7-4856-A077-A4CE0FF99C70.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="570" data-original-width="850" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohCEpIYM1b7YRKoOruaO43QI5b6NrXawXrvcHJNDVn8tj3JLoImkqawLA74OIQ_8FxnB1FJsD0_vef9ctq78Gi1EFdhvmIUqZolap7Y698JoGjQyMNP_DNIEwyPGYXPXH8ovqU_c6KtnR/w498-h335/DADFB4C3-66B7-4856-A077-A4CE0FF99C70.jpeg" width="498" /></a></div><p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;">From <a href="https://www.vox.com/" target="_blank"><i>Vox</i></a>: <br /></span></p><p id="kvFEmB"><span style="font-size: large;">At midnight on Wednesday, the Supreme Court allowed a Texas law that effectively bans all abortions after six weeks of pregnancy to take effect.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><p id="JIZUK9"><span style="font-size: large;">Twenty-four hours later, the Court released a brief, one-paragraph order
explaining why it did so — though it is a stretch to describe the
Court’s short and thinly reasoned order as an “explanation.” The vote in
<em>Whole Woman’s Health v. Jackson</em> was 5-4, with conservative Chief Justice John Roberts crossing over to vote with the three liberal justices.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><p id="Re7YCh"><span style="font-size: large;">The implications of this order are breathtaking. The Texas law violates the precedent established in <em>Planned Parenthood v. Casey</em>
(1992), which protects “the right of the woman to choose to have an
abortion before viability and to obtain it without undue interference
from the state.” The sixth week of gestation is so early in a pregnancy
that many people aren’t even aware they are pregnant....</span></p><p id="Re7YCh"><span style="font-size: large;">[The Texas law] relies on a highly unusual enforcement mechanism.
No state officer is permitted to enforce the statute. Instead, the law
permits “any person, other than an officer or employee of a state or
local governmental entity in this state” to file a lawsuit against an
abortion provider or anyone who “aids or abets the performance or
inducement of an abortion.” A plaintiff who prevails in such a lawsuit
is entitled to bounty of at least $10,000, paid by the person they sued.</span></p><p id="tgTVQQ"><span style="font-size: large;">As Justice Sonia Sotomayor explains in one of four
opinions filed by the dissenting justices, Texas lawmakers “fashioned
this scheme because federal constitutional challenges to state laws
ordinarily are brought against state officers who are in charge of
enforcing the law.” So if no state officer can enforce the law, it is
unclear whether anyone can be sued to block it.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;">
</span><p id="7fbY5S"><span style="font-size: large;">The Supreme Court’s order, joined by the five most
conservative justices, effectively blesses this method of evading
judicial review.</span></p><p id="7fbY5S"> </p><p id="7fbY5S"> <a href="https://www.vox.com/22653779/supreme-court-abortion-texas-sb8-whole-womans-health-jackson-roe-wade" target="_blank">Read the full article. </a><br /></p><p id="Re7YCh"> </p><p><br /><span style="font-family: georgia;"></span></p><p> </p><p></p>Rob in L.A.http://www.blogger.com/profile/15788601771248781353noreply@blogger.com0