Yesterday, I thought the most interesting development was Abrego Garcia’s vindictive prosecution hearing, which was best covered in two videos, both featuring Adam Klasfeld (one also had Michael Popok and the other also had Glenn Kirschner) and each lasting about a half hour. Bottom line – the DOJ was on defense as the judge had previously announced that there was clearly probable cause, so only their testimony was taken – and it had holes in it. I thought those holes looked big enough to drive a Mack truck through, but IANAL.
From The Brennan Center. The last I heard, the Constitution (including all its amendments) applied to everyone, not just to citizens. I’m somewhat concerned that if the regime carves out social media handles as an exception for non-citizens, it will eventually want to use the fact that the Constitution applies to everyone to apply this exemption to citizens as well. That might not get past the courts, but I can see it winning in the Court of Public Opinion.
This certainly never occurred to me – and it may not have occurred to Robert Reich before either – had it, I would have thought that we would have heard of it. It would not fly in all states – but it might not need to.
Keeping its residents (not only citizens) safe may not be the number one, but even so, it’s pretty near the top, whether or not it is mentioned. It is what all the first ten amendments are about (although the second no longer has the desired effect.)
Yesterday, the radio opera was “Werther,” by Jules Massenet, based on the (epistolary) novel by Goethe (who wrote it at age 24, which, coincidentally, was the same age at which Bruce Springsteen wrote “Born to Run.” (Massenet was in his 40’s when he wrote the opera,, and it took him two years to complete it. Composing operas is a lot harder than it looks.) It occurred to me that entitled straight young men haven’ changed all that much in the last few hundred years – the biggest change would be in the last fifty years – now, instead of self harm, they take it out on the object of their “affections.” And, yes, that is an unfair generalization, and not all of them are violent at all. But they surely tend to be whiny. Werther’s whine, the aria “Pourquoi me réveiller?” is heartbreakingly beautiful. Although the words and the music are very different, it has a strong similarity in tone and feel to Lensky’s aria “Kuda, kuda vï udalilis” in Eugene Onegin (usually just called “Lensky’s aria” here), also sung by a tenor about to die. And darn it, now I am reminded of Jerry Hadley. I don’t know when he recorded a CD with conductor Paul Geminiani of Great American Songbook songs every one of which is similarly whiny to Werther’s and Lenski’s, but I do own it, and have played it once and am in no hurry to do so again because Jerry shot himself in 2007. I could wish that life had not imitated art in this case. Sorry to be sharing such a downer today. I’m off now to see Virgil, which should cheer me up, and I’ll of course check in upon return.
Those of us who are melanin-deficient could learn a thing or two from this. From the Root.
Speaking as a person who lives in a more or less chronic drought area, I found this impressive.
“Friends” – guess there are things AI is good for.
Yesterday, it was brought home to me just how crazy our beloved country is now – it’s been over a month now and I only just learned the Grand Canyon is on fire.
From HuffPost. Shared without comment. I don’t have the vocabulary to do it justice
I could wish I hadn’t seen this in The Root. If you haven’t heard of Prager, it would be because I try to keep all religious stuff – Christian (real and fake), Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, Confucian, Taoist, Shinto, indigenous faiths, everything out of politics, as it should be. Clearly Prager does not agree.
I just couldn’t leave it at those two travesties when Joyce Vance had this to say. Incidentally, the staffer who writes the Trump**(*) parodies is named Camille Zapata who leads a team of three. They really have him nailed.
Yesterday, I tripped over this on Democratic Underground and found it fascinating. Joyce Vance tackles a subject which requires a whole lot more analysis than I could ever hope to give it in this blog. World history is already full of non-factual “facts,” and don’t get me started on the interpretations of both real and fake facts – if I live to be a hundred, I would still not have enough time to do justice there. And explaining why it matters – to be very brief, if every human being has the right to be judged on the basis of actual fact, I believe that applies to the dead as well as to the living. But there’s more to it, including the harm done to living people sucj=ked it to admiring the evil and disdaining the good.
After that highly abstract article and analysis from Joyce Vance, Steve Schmidt gets very concrete and specific. How this government is making even us who did not vote for it complicit in murder.
Yes, a third article, this one from Wonkette, because we needed something on the lighter side, even though it’s not yet Sunday. (The content is serious but the tone is hilarious.)
Yesterday, I wanted to start working on some things like persona paperwork I have been putting off, But a lot of it I couldn’t fund. When I finally did find one important document, I discovered that when my printer malfunctioned, it took the scanner with it (probably the fax also, but I never use that any more.) Very frustrating. And as if thet weren’t enough, my refrigerator is acting up. I’m sure everyone notices i was very, VERY late posting. Sorry about that.
This is good news, and I don’t want to wait until Sunday to share it. Perhaps the best two word in it are “automatically suspended.” He is currently the Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs at the Office of Management and Budget. I don’t know whether that person needs to be a [not disbarred] lawyer, but it sounds possible, perhaps even probable. We shall see.
I thought Joyce Vance had done a “The Week Ahead” e ither Friday or Saturday night. Either i was wrong, or she did another one Monday evening, which is about as current as it gets.
Fortunately i did not have any liquid in my mouth when I read this – I would surely have spit it out.
Yesterday, I had blood drawn again. I get it – my PCP is still trying to strike the right balance between enough thyroid to give me the energy to get up each day (and notice that I don’t say “morning”) and too much for my osteoporosis, while also trying to pamper my kidneys. (I really miss aspirin – acetaminophen is pretty much just a sugar pill for me. The TENS helps but not for the forehead. Fortunately, I still have a nearly empty tin and a new, unopened tin of a “sore muscle rub” containing menthol, which has been discontinued, but of which a little goes a long way, which does work on the forehead. I don’t know how much is the menthol, how much is the massage, and how much is the combination, but it does work. And, as I say, it goes a log way – I don’t expect to outlive the new tin.) Also, the blood draws are fast and painless. This one was so fast and so painless i didn’t have time to think of my favorite vampire joke until I had left. I hope I can remember it for next time. In case you’re wondering:
Three vampires walk into a bar. Bartender says, “What’ll you have?” First vampire says, “I’ll have a glass of blood, please.” Second vampire says, “Same for me, thanks.” Third vampire says, “I think I’ll just have a glass of plasma today.” Bartender says, “Right. Two bloods and a blood lite.”
Having ICE raid MacArthur Park and terrify children was bad enough. Let’s not use it as an excuse to crucify Karen Bass. So says the Editrix of Wonkette, and I heartily agree. I can’t put into words how tired I am of misogyny in general and the singling out of black women in particular.
Damn, this from the Contrarian is scary. And it kind of random that we have access to the information at all. Although had we not allowed the Mango Menace to be elected, we might not have as much need to know it as we now do.
Robert Reich did not email this as a print article from his Substack, but as a video from Move On. It does have CC, so there’s a transcript (which might need some proofreading). But this is so important – and, sadly, so many people (not here, but almost certainly someone you know) are duped into believing regulation is bad.
Yesterday, I learned that Pete Buttigieg has a Substack. Here’s the link. Just looking at the front page, he appears to be doing less writing and more conversational videos that most newsletters there, but he also appears to be keeping his readership current on what he’s doing. I subscribed – and didn’t even get offered a paid subscription, so it’s free. Just so you know, he has acquired facial hair, so don’t be shocked.
Quite frankly, we do not have enough Democrats in Congress (either House) and there is going to be carnage in the Big Bad Bill that we are somehow going to have to live with, at least for a time. The F* News discusses.
It is, I think, indicative of just how all-consuming the chaos has become that I did not see this faux pas reported anywhere else – though I’m sure it was – on inner pages and below the fold, to use slang from print journalism. Surely Heather Cox Richardson and I are not the only ones who know better.
Yeah, three today – I didn’t want to leave out Los Angeles completely and this seems to be highly thoughtful coverage dripping with sarcasm. Trinette’s family – and there’s a lot of it, even just the California part – lives in Southern Cal, but thankfully not in LA but in Riverside County mostly.
Yesterday, the radio opera was “L’Assedio di Corinto” by Rossini. This is the first opera Beverly Sills sang at the Met – and in fact we heard a recording of that debut on April 19th of 1975, exactly fifty years earlier. Fifty years. I wasn’t there, but I had heard Ms. Sills a few years earlier, at the Kennedy Center, in recital, on the tour, which was famous at the time, when she was so ill she requested no encores, but people demanded them anyway, unable to believe that anyone could sing like that but have something wrong with her voice. It wasn’t until she asked the audience in her own speaking voice to refrain from requesting encores that she was believed and her request respected. I have this opera on vinyl with her and also with Norman Treigle, who is not in this performance (Justino Diaz is.) But that’s OK – Shirley Verrett is in this performance but was not on the vinyl. The opera is not really about Corinth (which has been through some sieges) but about Missolonghi which was under siege in 1826 by Turkey. I’m pretty sure none of the main plot (about a love triangle, a domineering father, and mistaken identity) happened at either siege. or at any siege ever), but it’s Rossini, so it’s listenable, even without the shining stars of this production. Sigh. I remember some opera opera lovers and I used occasionally to refer to Sills as “Silverly Bells” – a Spoonerism, but it intended as a tribute to that voice. Now I’m feeling old. But it was worth it. Also yesterday, Wonkette reported that Barbara Lee has won her special election to be the Mayor of Oakland, CA. I don’t believe it’s been officially announced, but the numbers are clear. I can only compare what that will be like for Oakland to South Bend, IN, who had Mayor Pete for 8 years. I certainly hope they keep her in office as long as they legally can. Now, let’s help make Kasie Porter Governor of California, and I’ll think about forgiving Adam Schiff. And one more thing – At 1:00 AM EDT yesterday, the Supreme Court issued an opinion – and it was a good one. This video from the Contrarian is almost 45 minutes. But it took me less than 10 minutes before my jaw dropped. If you already know about it, fine, but if you don’t you need to. Off to see Virgil now, will comment upon return.
And this in, of all places, Tennessee. And Dolly Parton wasn’t even there.
Colorado Public Radio published this on Good Friday, so I can share it on actual Easter. Nice not to be late, for once.
Wonkette doesn’t mention this, but I would like to point out, if you made phone calls or sent postcards or did anything at all to help keep the Supreme Court election in Wisconsin fair and prevent Republicans from getting the vote overturned in favor of the Republican candidate, give yourself a big pat on the back (just don’t break your arm.) Because you did this. Your work helped make it possible for the cOurt to rule this way. And this is an example of why I try to bring attention to special elections, recall elections, or any disputed or might-be-disputed, no matter where.
