Glenn Kirschner – Judge sets court date to school defendant Trump on protective order to guard against Trump’s threats
PoliticsGirl – This Mother’s Day
The Lincoln Project – Rick Reacts: CNN Town Hall
Ring of Fire – Eric Trump Threatens To Sue Rachel Maddow For Exposing His Disgusting Connections
Cat Needs A Family Who Will Understand His Obsession With…Cheese
Beau – Let’s talk about trusted news sources and media literacy….
Yesterday, the radio opera was Verdi’s “Aïda.” It was commissioned by the Egyptian government of the time to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal. IIRC, it was a bit on the late side, but it was a hit anyway (which suggests that Egyptians of the day didn’t know their history much more accurately than we know ours today.) I got to thinking about how tastes can change over time. A hundred years ago, Gounod’s “Faust” was so popular, and therefore performed so often, that one critic nicknamed the Met “Das Faustspielhaus” – a pun on Wagner’s “Festspielhaus” at Bayreuth (a story in its own right). Both Aïda and Boheme existed (1874 and 1895 respectively), but they weren’t all that popular. Fifty years ago, the three most performed operas at the Met were Aïda, Boheme, and Carmen, in that order. The ABCs of opera. Today, Boheme is the most performed, followed by Aïda, and there may not be a clear third. This is not a bad thing. If tastes didn’t change, new operas would not have a chance of success. But I digress. Aïda is a love trianglein which all three apexes are doomed. Aïda is a POW from the last war between Egypt and Ethiopia, and has been given to Amneris, the Pharaoh’s daughter as a slave. Both are (secretly) in love with Radames, a general in the Egyptian army. Egypt receives intelligence that Ethiopia is planning to attack them, and decides to hit Ethiopia back first.Radames is chosen to command the attack. Egypt wins and Radames brings home prisoners, including Aïda’s father. There is a huge triumphal scene, notorious for the number and variety of animals on stage, inclidng a march which is so famous and so often played on its own that you have probably heard it. The Pharaoh rewards Radames for his success by giving him Amneris’s hand in marriage (not exactly what he was hoping for.) Radames and Aïda consider running away to escape this fate, but her father shows up at their meeting place before Radames does, and puts the screws to her to get Radames to tell her the Egyptian battle plan. Unwillingly, she does so, and at that moment Amneris and the High Priest show up and condemn Radames as a traitor. There’s an off stage trial, Radames does not defend himself and is condemned to be locked into a tomb (and asphyxiated.) Aïda sneaks into the tomb first and they die together while Amneris prays for peace for her soul. Aïda’s music in the final scene is written in such a way that musicologists have suggested it demonstrates she has been waiting for him in the tomb long enough to already be noticeably low on oxygen, and I think they are on to something. Totally unrelated: I bombed the Conversation’s quiz this week – only 4 correct out of eight. Told you I couldn’t keep it up. 🙂
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The Brighter Side – Breakthrough antibody kills all known variants of SARS-CoV-2
Quote – Researchers from Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital have made a significant breakthrough with the development of a new antibody. This antibody, during laboratory examinations, effectively neutralized all presently recognized variants of SARS-CoV-2, which includes all known variants of Omicron.
Click through for some medical detail. However, this is not a journal, so it’s pretty well simplified.
Crooks & Liars – Shocker: NYT Headline Admits Biden Didn’t Do Anything Wrong
Quote – And in a rare turn of events, the NY Times ran this story with a completely unambiguous headline: “House Republican Report Finds No Evidence of Wrongdoing by President Biden.” Man bites dog! It’s a low bar, but I’ll take it.
Click through for a bit more. This is good news, but it’s still sad when an accurate headline is itself newsworthy for its accuracy alone.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Trump’s incriminating statements at CNN town hall WILL be used against him at trial
MSNBC – Tuberville on white nationalists in the military: ‘I call them Americans’
Thom Hartmann – Can Impeaching Clarence Thomas Save America From Corruption?
Rocky Mountain Mike – Hello Carlson
Grandpa Is Smitten With His New Puppy
Beau – Let’s talk about everything on the table with SCOTUS….
We can’t leave the historic week of Trump being UNANIMOUSLY found GUILTY of SEX ABUSE AND DEFAMATION in UNDER three hours without marking the occasion for posterity.
There were a number of options open to me on how best to commemorate this historic marker, but I decided to go primarily with editorial cartoons.
One of the surprising things I came across while doing my research was Fox News actually showing a clip of TFG’s deposition where he incorrectly identifies his victim, E. Jean Carroll – someone he has repeatedly claimed as “Not my type”, as Marla Maples, his second wife.
And then when his mistake is pointed out to him, he immediately responds that the photo was “very blurry”.
For the record, here’s the actual photo marked as an Exhibit that was shown to TFG (blurry, my A$$):
[SIDEBAR: To be honest, I have no idea why his team of lawyers (NOT exactly a stellar lineup) let Trump repeatedly go with his “Not my type” as a defense. It implies that if Ms. Carroll were his type, then his sexual abuse of her would have been OK.]
In going through dozens and dozens of cartoons the most common theme was Lady Justice exacting her well-deserved retribution. So I put them together as a GIF and grouped similar ones sequentially.
I’ll let Ms. Carroll introduce the other Lady Justices:
[Reportedly the one with Lady Justice grabbing & dragging TFG by his balls was banned by Elon Musk’s Twitter]
Moving on to individual cartoons, I particularly enjoyed the one with Ms. Carroll doing a parody of Trump’s infamous Access Hollywood quote:
There were quite a few that focused on his tiny hands – and I particularly got a kick out of the one mocking his itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny paws:
The handcuff drawing raises a frequent question with folks wondering that since TFG was found GUILTY of sexual abuse, will he have to register as a sex offender. Unfortunately for us (but fortunately for him) the answer is no. Since this was a civil lawsuit rather than criminal case, he will not have to register.
But I still enjoyed this cartoon by Clay Bennett dealing with that issue:
A couple of times I’ve read about Team TFG really searching for a silver lining by pointing out that while found guilty of sexual abuse, he was not found guilty of rape:
That’s like the classic joke asking Abraham Lincoln’s wife:
“Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how was your night at the theater?”
Trump has long voiced thoughts that he belongs up on Mount Rushmore – even Tweeting out a picture of himself lined up like a fifth face.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2020
Later adding:
“Never suggested it [to Gov. Noem (R-SD)] although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!”
Well, Donny, as the saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for”.
Certainly looks like the appropriate cast of miscreants Trump would be comfortable with. I think we can all agree with Obi-Wan Kenobi’s assessment:
“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
And like the other criminals in the Mount Rushmore tableau, the main question now is how many more shoes will drop …
Looking forward to hearing more from Georgia and Special Prosecutor Jack Smith!
Yesterday, I got an email advising me that eight fake electors in Georgia have accepted immunity. You probably saw or heard that, but it’s such good news I wanted to make sure you did. Also, anyone here who plays yesterday’s New Yorker Name Drop is going to get it. Maybe not on the first two clues, but at least one of the last four will give it away. Finally, there’s a petition which is sponsored by several groups, one of which is Faithful America, which is how I heard of it. It asks Congress tp pass the Supreme Court Ethics Act.
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HuffPost – Kansas City Council Votes To Become Sanctuary For Trans Health Care
Quote – Kansas City council members agreed by an 11-1 vote to bar city personnel from punishing individuals who seek out gender-affirming care or the organizations that provide gender-affirming care. They also instructed city personnel to make it their “lowest priority” to cooperate with enforcing state law targeting trans health care. “Kansas City government is committed to ensuring Kansas City is a welcoming, inclusive, and safe place for everyone, including our transgender and LGBTQ+ community,” Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) said in a statement.
Click through for details. Nameless has every right to be bursting with pride for his city (if not for the state which made this necessary.)
Crooks & Liars – Does Congress Have Power To Override The President’s Duty?
Quote – Lawrence O’Donnell invited constitutional law professor Laurence Tribe onto his show last night to explain how he changed his thinking on Biden using the 14th Amendment as authority to pay the nation’s debt. “What I changed my mind about is, what is the right question to ask,” Tribe said…. [“T]he real question isn’t what powers the president have. It is, what duties the president has. Does the president have a duty to execute all of the laws of the United States, the ones that Congress passed, telling him to spend money? He does have that duty.”
Click through for article. Put like that, it is a no-brainer.
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Jury finds Donald Trump liable in E. Jean Carroll case: Three main takeaways from the verdict
The Lincoln Project – Last Week in the Republican Party – May 9, 2023
MSNBC – ‘He has a tough road ahead of him’: Fmr. Asst. Manhattan DA on George Santos’ indictment
Parody Project – I THANK YOU (not)
These Two Feral Cats Will Restore Your Faith In True Love
Beau – Let’s talk about how a fake debt ceiling can hurt….
Yesterday (all tornado warnings having expired at 7:34 pm the previous night), the precipitation continued, but it was mostly rain. I said that quarter-sized hail would not be breaking any car windows, and I stick to that, because automotive glass is tempered. I didn’t promise no windows in buildings would break, and I didn’t promise there would be no hail bigger than quarter-size. Tennis-ball size was reported along I-70, and some golf-ball-size was photographed with a quarter to show the difference. One tornado was reported, in Morgan County (way northeast of me) which lasted from 5:55 to 6:45. I guess I’m going to have to put up a sign that says “Do not touch my roof. It’s under warranty and you are not certified by Gerard.” Because the roof vultures will be around as soon as the sun is back. Springtime in the Rockies!
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Colorado Public Radio – [Democratic Rep. Joe] Neguse is reintroducing a bill in Congress that would boost pay and benefits for wildland firefighters
Quote – Now Neguse is reintroducing Tim’s Act, a bill to increase federal firefighter pay and benefits, with fellow Democratic Rep. Katie Porter of California. Tim Hart was a smokejumper who lost his life fighting a wildfire in New Mexico in 2021. Neguse credits Tim’s wife, Michelle, as one of the driving forces behind the legislation. Neguse and Porter pushed some parts of the bill across the finish line last Congress, such as improving retirement benefits and a temporary increase in pay through the bipartisan infrastructure bill. But Neguse wants to finish the job.
Click through for details. Speaking of weather, it’s nice to have a bit of good news, even if it’s currently tentative. Yes, our (primary) fire season runs right through our hail season (and beyond.) Not that we can’t have fires just about any time. As can California.
Crooks and Liars – Nine GOP Senators (All On Judiciary) Got Checks From Harlan Crow
Quote – “There should be bipartisan outrage about the undisclosed gifts and travel billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow has given Justice Thomas,” Accountable.US president Kyle Herrig said last month. “Senate Judiciary Republicans should join their Democratic colleagues to act. However, their silence so far may be because they have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Crow as well.”
Click through for full list, including pictures of 8 of the 9. You will recognize every name. Every one of them is nationally known (and not for any positive reason.)
Food For Thought
Glenn Kirschner – Judge finally issues gag order/protective order, restricting Donald Trump’s speech and posts
The Lincoln Project – This Is Who He Is
Thom Hartmann – Mass Shooters: Ugly Truth About Pathetic Men Revealed By Former Psycho Therapist
Puppet Regime – Putin gets introspective
MAN vs ELEPHANT: Baby Elephant Plays with KBC Journalist
Beau – Let’s talk about Biden, the FBI, and Republican pursuits….