Politics Plus

Yesterday, The opera was Puccini’s “Turandot” – it may be the only opera which requires more suspension of disbelief that Verdi’s “Ls Forza del Destino” (and I’m not knocking them – both are wonderful – just not believable.) Turandot is where the aria “Nessun dorma” which became Pavarotti’s signature tune comes from. During intermission, the Met’s general manager Peter Gelb spoke about what the Met is doing to boost Ukraine, including sponsoring and helping to assemble an orchestra of Ukrainian refugees (“The Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra”) which is or will be touring to raise both awareness and funds. I’ve never seen the Met do so much for a cause, and it turns out Mrs. Gelb has some Ukrainian ancestry. Not surprising he is emotionally involved (not that we all aren’t). More power to the Met.

Cartoon –

Short Takes –

Crooks and Liars – Republican, In Jail For Murdering His Wife, Wins Primary
Quote – Because nothing says traditional family values like killing your wife and still winning a spot for an election while in jail awaiting trial. And in case you were wondering, he’ll be on the November ballot unless convicted beforehand for his heinous act. He has confessed.
Click through for story (BBA). He intends to plead guilty, so technially I suppose it’s not his trial but his plea hearing which he is in jail awaiting. And he’ll go back to jail to await sentencing. and then who knoes. Looks to me like a perfect GQP candidate.

Colorado Public Radio – If Roe v. Wade is overturned, Colorado will become an island of abortion access
Quote – [Neta] Meltzer [with Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains] said that if the Supreme Court decision comes down as it was drafted in the leaked ruling, it will have a ripple effect across the country. And Colorado will be an island of access, surrounded by states, save for New Mexico, that have partial or total bans on abortion. In the meantime, abortion rights advocates are gearing up. “We have been preparing for some time. We have been working with the clinics that provide care. We are working with abortion funding, and we are going to continue to try to coordinate to make sure we don’t turn anyone away,” said Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, formerly NARAL CO.
Click through for details, although, because no one here is clairvoyant, they are tentative. But I’m proud of my state for this.

KUT 90.5 Austin TX – So the $35 sculpture you got at an Austin Goodwill was looted from a museum during WWII. Now what?
Quote – Young wanted to figure out what the sculpture was, so she did some Googling and she started to piece things together. She contacted an auction house in London that confirmed it was really old — like FIRST CENTURY old. Another auction house managed to find the head in a catalog of items from a German museum in the 1920s and 1930s. It was listed as a portrait bust of a man named Drusus Germanicus. And so began Young’s four-year ordeal trying to get rid of a 2,000-year-old sculpture.

Click through for another improbable story.  I say improbable, but there could be thousands of stories like it, if we only knew. At least this one has a happy ending.

Food For Thought

Yesterday,I concentrated on preparing the blog.  I collected a whole bunch of videos (some of my sources were kind of on fire, which helped snd also some URLs of articles, though I didn’t finalize those.  I did finalize the draft of Everyday Erinyes, though.    It’s on a subject which is not gong away any time soon.  I should also mention  … for anyone not on Mitch’s mailing list … he had not sent anything for a while and Lona and I were both getting worried, but we heard from him (and I expect everyone on lis list did) and he was hospitalized but is out and doing pretty well.  That doesn’t mean we’ll be getting comments from him riight away as he still has physical therapy and recuperation.  But he’s doing as well as can be expected.

Cartoon – (Even TC was – seldom – inaccurate.  FIFH.)

Short Takes –

The Daily Beast – Abortion Is the ‘Five-Alarm Fire’ That Could Save Some Democrats
Quote – David Pepper, a former chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party, said that overturning Roe is an unpopular position in Ohio, and argued that the justices doing so sparks a “five-alarm fire” in the lives of voters. “If Tim and others can show that electing them can lead to laws that save us from this nightmare,” Pepper said, “yeah, it could motivate, it could persuade.” That logic could apply to virtually every Democrat running in a competitive race this fall, who now find their campaigns reshaped by this week’s seismic news from the Supreme Court.
Click through for discussion, starting in Ohio, but broadening out to other states. We need to make some effing good lemonade here.

Brennan Center for Justice – The Insurrection Act Explained
Quote – Although it is often referred to as the “Insurrection Act of 1807,” the law is actually an amalgamation of different statutes enacted by Congress between 1792 and 1871. Today, these provisions occupy Sections 251 through 255 in Title 10 of the United States Code. Under normal circumstances, the Posse Comitatus Act forbids the U.S. military — includ­ing federal armed forces and National Guard troops who have been called into federal service — from taking part in civilian law enforcement. This prohibition reflects an American tradition that views military interference in civilian government as being inherently dangerous to liberty…. In theory, the Insurrection Act should be used only in a crisis that is truly beyond the capacity of civilian authorities to manage. However, the Insurrection Act fails to adequately define or limit when it may be used and instead gives the president significant power to decide when and where to deploy U.S. military forces domestically.
Click through for full explanation. Far too much of our law is predicated on the concept of “That’s unthinkable = no one would ever do that.” It ain’t so. There are people who would literally do anything. If we can’t prevent them from getting into power – and it looks like we can’t – we must find ways to legally prevent that from “doing that.”

Wonkette – GOP Rep. Pals Around With Actual Child Predator While Accusing Teachers Of ‘Grooming’
Quote – Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller’s good buddy Bradley Graven is also very concerned about “the children,” albeit in a somewhat different way. In 2003, Graven was arrested for indecent solicitation of a child in a sting operation, after making plans to meet what he thought was a 12-year-old boy in a drugstore parking lot to engage in sexual activities. He then lost his contract job in the office of then-Illinois Republican Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. He later pleaded guilty and was convicted and sentenced to 40 days in prison and two years of probation in 2005.
Click through for the whole sordid story. I’m not a medical professional, and we could argue about whether pedophilia (like most lay people, I included hebephilia and ephebophilia under that umbrella) is a disease (although I believe it’s in the DSM-V), but whatever it is, it can’t be eliminated (cured) – it an only be controlled. Like an addiction. There is some evidence which suggests it may also like addiction, be progressive, but that is not proven. Adults who ignore this are inviting the abuse of children. But Republican hypocrisy is nothing new.

Food For Thought