On Thursday night, former President Donald Trump appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox show. And the two men had the following exchange:

Hannity: "I want America to do well. I really do, with all my heart. And I -- the only way that I see that he could change course is, as The Wall Street Journal pointed out today, rightly so -- there's no course correction with [President Joe Biden]. He seems locked into every one of these failed policies. So, you know, you know, you keep banging your head against the wall. Why would you expect a different result?"

Trump: "So, we would have had the wall completed in three weeks. It was largely completed. We did almost 500 miles of wall in the southern border. It was really working. It really had an impact. And we were working along with Mexico, and Guatemala, Honduras. We were -- El Salvador -- all of these countries we were working."

I don't know about other parts of PA, but in my area of PA (York County), we don't need work, we need workERS. You can't drive around the block here without being bombarded by Help Wanted signs. Harley Davidson has an electronic billboard on US30 advertising $35.72 wages. These are not service jobs. There are warehouse jobs, manufacturing jobs, technical jobs, you name it, you can find an opening around here.

I used to go to Philadelphia often, but haven't been there in a couple of years now (dying for roast pork from Johns or Tony Lukes). Peter is it the same around there? Lots of job openings?

Manu Raju
@mkraju
 · 15h
Susan Collins: "As you know, I felt that the timetable for the last nominee was too compressed. This time there is no need for any rush. We can take our time, have hearings, go through the process, which is a very important one it is a lifetime appointment after all."
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Shorpy

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I so agree with this.  The Dems will not listen.

Democrats Are Losing the Vaccine Culture War

February 2, 2022 at 11:00 am EST By Taegan Goddard 108 Comments

A.B. Stoddard: "A pandemic Republicans have eagerly prolonged has pummeled Joe Biden's presidency and he can no longer fight depravity with good will. There are no more marginal vaccine holdouts to be wooed. No more lives of people who just don't know any better to be saved."

"It's time for Democrats to stop worrying about alienating the unvaccinated and start explaining to the rest of the country how the unvaccinated--and the Republicans who coddle and truckle to them--have screwed the rest of us."

"To win this culture war, Biden and the Democrats have to actually fight it. Otherwise, the Republican Covid radicals are going to clobber them."

big Russian and possibly other foreign money coming into or through the RNC?

Fear of the base is a convenient but unconvincing explanation of their behavior.

I understand the electoral math, but any normal party would be trying to at least triangulate between the loons and rest of the country.

And not in an entertaining King of Hearts kinda way either.

I would like to hear what some of the people on this blog think regarding this.  After reading the Buckley decision (IANAL) as best I could, I think that this actually (i.e. money is speech) may be the bigger problem.

Thought I would take another look after a long hiatus. Based on his Friday show, he has only gotten worse,  His monologue sputtered along in the vain search of a joke, but to be fair it was mercifully short.  Bill managed to make his interview with the very interesting Yale scholar of fascism and totalitarian regimes, Timothy Snyder, into a meandering bore.

The panel, consisting of the young congressman from the Bronx, Ritchie Torres and former NYTimes writer, Bari Weiss, turned into an opportunity for Bill io ride his ageist, woke and anti-public heath hobby horses.  He seems to still bel smarting over not being able to hold those lucrative stand-ups around the country owing to pandemic restrictions. His wokeness ranting took the awkward track of asking Congressman Torres, who is part Puerto Rican, if the new Westside Story movie should have had Puerto Rican actors.  And, Bari Weiss was to field his questions about Jews in Hollywood.  

Judges Greenlight Special Grand Jury In Trump Probe

January 24, 2022 at 4:34 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 65 Comments

"A panel of Fulton County judges on Monday cleared the way for a special grand jury to be used as part of District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation of former President Donald Trump and his efforts to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results," the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.

"Special grand juries, which include 16 to 23 people, are rare in Georgia. They can't issue indictments but can subpoena witnesses and compel the production of documents and information. Unlike regular grand juries, they can be seated for longer than two months and are focused on a singular case."

Basketball Star Claims 100 Athletes Died of Vaccine

January 24, 2022 at 5:26 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Hall of Fame basketball player John Stockton falsely told the Spokane Spokesman-Review that more than 100 professional athletes have died of Covid vaccination.

Said Stockton: "I think it's highly recorded now, there's 150 I believe now, it's over 100 professional athletes dead - professional athletes - the prime of their life, dropping dead that are vaccinated, right on the pitch, right on the field, right on the court."

At the end of a photo op, Peter Doocy of Fox News shouted a question to President Biden:

DOOCY: Do you think inflation is a political liability in the midterms?

BIDEN: It's a great asset--more inflation. What a stupid son of a b!tch

 Unfortunately, the prospects for expansion of the court (or unpacking the presently packed)  are bleak, but a reform that alters the case selection process may be less politically-charged (probably because it is less understood) and may be a way to save the progress made over the past hundred years from the reactionary court we now have.

The justices have even given clues along the way such as we can't decide that matter now, but bring us a case...And, the power of certiorari facilitates the Court's policy-making. Policy-making by an unelected branch that can't be voted out.

The court took a case on affirmative action in higher education (any bets on a ban.), case on overturning Roe (any question on the outcome), a case of a public high school football coach determined to hold after game prayers on the field with the players (as an opportunity to strengthen the establishment clause? Yeah, right). And, then there was the voting rights gut job that no one was calling for, or the goal of dismantling regulatory agencies.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, arguably the best hitter and pitcher of the last 50 years, were not voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in their tenth and final year of eligibility. The BBWAA announced its 2022 voting results Tuesday and neither Bonds nor Clemens reached the 75 percent threshold needed for induction.

"WalletHub study: Arkansas ranks as one of worst states to retire in 2022"

It say this -

Arkansas fell among one of the worst states to retire in, receiving an overall ranking of 43.

....

Two metrics that affected this ranking were museums per capita and theaters per capita, where Arkansas ranked as one of the worst states.

It does go on to say it's very cheap to live here.

Now, I like museums and theaters and I understand why this might be the most important factors in the quality of your life.  They are not mine.

It's hard to understand why playwright Jez Butterworth's historical epic Britannia isn't one of the country's most-loved TV shows.

Sales soar for `Maus' after its banning in Tennessee
Art Spiegelman's graphic novel is at the heart of an educational controversy.

An idea along the lines of telling your followers to die to own the libs.  

Anti-Vax Kidney Patient Rejects Transplant

January 30, 2022 at 4:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 41 Comments

A North Carolina man who desperately needs a new kidney is rejecting a transplant because the hospital requires him to be vaccinated against Covid-19, WSOC reports.

Said Chad Carswell: "No sir, I was born free. I will die free. I'm not changing my mind."

He added: "I've had conversations with my family and everybody who is close to me and they know where I stand and there will not be a situation that occurs where I'll change my mind on this topic."

It's easy to call this delusional.  For example, can he not know he will never be re-elected?  Does he not know he is more likely to be indicted?

I think he does know that.  But I don't think what he is doing is delusional.  Like he built the foundation for his charges of election fraud starting back when he won he is saying what he know his fans want and then he will tell them, when he is indicted, that is being done to silence him.  

The illness of Senator Lujan underscores the fragility of the Democrat's 50 -50 majority.  The senator is not on the Judiciary Committee, but a floor vote on a nominee for a successor to Justice Breyer may be delayed as will legislative processes. It is amazing that President Biden and Leader Schumer have accomplished so much in the first year given this senate split and it's tenuousness given Manchin and Sinema.  

The banquet is closed to the press.  The meeting will also feature Mike Pence and Ron DeSantis, as well as a session billed "The End of Roe v Wade?", moderated by a federal judge appointed by the former guy.

The Federalist Society has been in Gorsuch's corner from the get go.  Cheer leaders with pom poms in red, white and blue.

And, at least two attendees will not be wearing a mask: Gorsuch and DeSantis.

Thanks to the skill and bravery of our Armed Forces, we have taken off the battlefield Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi--the leader of ISIS. All Americans have returned safely from the operation.

In a tense exchange in court Thursday, Josiah Kenyon, 34, who was arrested in Reno, Nevada, asked Judge Carl Nichols to acknowledge that he has the right to defend himself if corrections officers try to assault him, according to Politico's Kyle Cheney.

Before his comment, Nichols warned Kenyon to consult with his attorney before speaking. "I have a high enough IQ range to not screw up there, boss," Kenyon shot back to the judge.

Trump is facing criminal investigations into his conduct. Court buildings are bracing for violence and chaos.

Having been a teenager and more than most still being one at heart it's almost endearingly pathetic that they seem to think the fact their children are rejecting their fears and prejudices is because of the schools.

GOP Bills Would Allow Taxpayers to Sit In on Classes

February 6, 2022 at 12:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 180 Comments

"Lawmakers in at least a dozen states are backing bills meant to increase transparency around school curricula, the next iteration of movements under way to bar teachers from promoting concepts perceived as divisive," the Wall Street Journal reports.

"The bills, introduced by Republican legislators, would in some states allow taxpayers to sit in on classes or make staff professional development sessions open to members of the public."