Legislature in Tennessee, Birthplace of the Klan, Expels Two Black Lawmakers

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From left: Reps. Justine Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson
From left: Reps. Justine Jones, Justin Pearson and Gloria Johnson

CNN: “In an extraordinary, emotionally charged session marked by tense exchanges and punctuated by boos and chants from onlookers, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted to expel two Black lawmakers – but failed to oust a third [white] representative – a week after the three Democrats led a gun reform protest in the chamber.

“The crowd in the gallery erupted in boos and chants following both expulsions and loud cheers when the vote count turned up just short in the bid to oust Rep. Gloria Johnson. The session lasted seven hours.

“The vote over rules violations for Jones split along party lines 72-25, while the vote in Pearson’s case was 69-26. Johnson’s vote was 65-30. Expulsion from the House requires a two-thirds majority of the total membership.”

Pro-Publica: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Has Enjoyed Unreported Luxury Vacations Paid for by Wealthy GOP Donor

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Clarence Thomas Harlan Crow Pro-Publica
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

Pro-Publica: “In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

“If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.

“For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.

“The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Ex-Democratic Assemblymember’s Defection to GOP Triggers Political Earthquake in North Carolina

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Traitorous NC Assemblymember Tricia_Cotham
Traitor: NC Assemblymember Tricia Ann Cotham (R) Email: Tricia.Cotham@ncleg.gov

 

Rep. Jeff Jackson, D-NC, on Reddit: “This morning there was a political earthquake in North Carolina. A legislator in the state House announced she was switching parties from Democrat to Republican. I want to make sure you understand how dramatic the impact of this one switch will be.

Rep. Jeff Jackson D-NC
Rep. Jeff Jackson D-NC

“Until today, Democrats had enough votes to sustain [Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s] veto – but only by a margin of one vote in the NC House. With this switch, Republicans now have a supermajority in both chambers, which means they have the votes to override any veto – which effectively just gave them full control of state government for the first time since 2017.

“I can’t overstate the policy consequences of this single switch. While we don’t know how she will vote on any given bill, dozens of bills that were essentially dead – from elections law changes to reproductive freedom to LGBTQ rights to education policy – may have just sprung back to life. And the state budget – which controls education funding – can now be passed entirely on the basis of Republican votes.

“In short, the decision by this legislator to suddenly switch parties will have consequences for millions of people.”

Keeping Track of the Trump Investigations

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mediumjessebravo.com
In case you’ve lost track, The Bulwark collects Donald Trump’s other legal problems in one place:

  • First, there is the investigation by the Department of Justice into the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago.
  • Second, there is DOJ’s investigation of the effort to stymie the transfer of power following the 2020 election, including the January 6th insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
  • Third is the investigation — led by Fani Willis, the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia — into election fraud in that state, arising from Trump’s having asked the Georgia secretary of state to “find” enough votes to hand him an Electoral College win there.
  • Fourth is the set of investigations (some criminal, some civil) into Trump’s various corporate enterprises. The attorney general of New York state, Letitia James, and the district attorney of Manhattan, Alvin Bragg, have each been leading probes.

    • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Ain’t Done Much for Floridians

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    C. Jones claytoonz.com

    TIME magazine has an insightful piece on how Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ focus on culture wars has obscured his terrible record on accomplishing much of anything positive for the residents of his state. The essay is written by William Kleinknecht, a political journalist and author of “States of Neglect: How Red-State Leaders Have Failed Their Citizens and Undermined America.”

    Here’s an excerpt from “No One Is Talking About What Ron DeSantis Has Actually Done to Florida”:

    Even a cursory dip into the statistics of social and economic well-being reveals that Florida falls short in almost any measure that matters to the lives of its citizens. More than four years into the DeSantis governorship, Florida continues to languish toward the bottom of state rankings assessing the quality of health care, school funding, long-term elder care, and other areas key to a successful society.

    Florida may be the place where “woke goes to die”—as DeSantis is fond of saying—but it is also where teachers’ salaries are among the lowest in the nation, unemployment benefits are stingier than in any other state, and wage theft flourishes with little interference from the DeSantis administration. In 2021, DeSantis campaigned against a successful ballot initiative to raise the state’s minimum wage, which had been stuck at $8.65 an hour. Under DeSantis’s watch, the Sunshine State has not exactly been a workers’ paradise.

    Nashville’s Serial Lying Congressman Andy Ogles Sent Christmas Card Glorifying Assault Rifles

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    Yahoo News: “A Tennessee lawmaker who on Monday offered his ‘thoughts and prayers’ to families of the victims of a deadly school shooting in his district sent out a 2021 Christmas message featuring a photo of his gun-toting family.

    “Rep. Andy Ogles, a Republican who represents part of Nashville, posted a statement on Twitter in response to the shooting that killed three children and three staff members at The Covenant School, a private Christian school in Nashville serving preschool students through sixth graders.

    In case you may have forgotten Rep. Ogle, he is the MAGA House member who lied repeatedly about his background. As was the case with his colleague in the House Liars Caucus Rep. George SAntos (R-NY), Ogle’s lies weren’t given much play in the press until after he was elected.

    […]

    DeSantis PAC Spending Challenged by Florida Democratic Party

    Says Governor Dines at Miami's "Dirty French Steakhouse" Where a Porterhouse is $255

    Trish

    Fried Tweet
    “Dirty French Steakhouse?”
    The new chair of the Florida Democratic Party is fearless. Nikki Fried was the only Dem in the cabinet of Ron DeSantis because Floridians elected her as our agriculture secretary and he couldn’t do anything about it. But she opted to run in the primary leading up to the 2022 gubernatorial election and lost because our team was so afraid of DeSantis winning a second term that they made the utterly wrong calculation that former governor, former Republican, former U.S. Representative Charlie Crist was the safer bet.

    I knew Fried had what it would take to beat DeSantis. Unfortunately, you can’t go full nuclear on a fellow “Democrat” in a primary so Crist won on name recognition and voter laziness. DeSantis went on to take 59.4 percent of the vote, in an election with 53.6 percent turnout, or the votes of 4.6 million people in a state with 22.2 million people. But DeSantis touts his “landslide” victory and since it makes a better story, the press goes along with it and it becomes accepted fact.

    But we still have Fried and she is not sleeping on retiring Ron DeSantis.

    Disney vs. DeSantis: The Mouse Snaps Back, Will Host Gay Rights Summit in Florida

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    Los Angeles Magazine: “Now, as tension remains high, Disney has put a major conference to promote LGBTQ+ rights in the workplace in Florida, to take place right in [Disneyworld], on the calendar for this September, as the Miami Herald reports. The event will host some of the most prominent names within the global business world; it’s also ultimately, a direct rebuttal to DeSantis’ crusade against diversity training.

    “The summit — to be hosted in collaboration with longstanding sponsor Out & Equal — comes nearly a year after DeSantis sparked the feud when passing the state’s HB-1557, dubbed the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. In its essence, the legislation bans any education regarding sexual orientation or gender identity in pre-4th-grade classrooms. And when Disney clapped back at this bill, which doesn’t require legislative approval, DeSantis upped the stakes for ‘the most magical place on Earth.’”

    Ron DeSantis Hates People

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    Ron DeSantis
    Ron DeSantis

    The Daily Beast: “At any given fundraiser or VIP room where he’s present, Ron DeSantis is usually easy to find—in the corner, keeping to himself.

    “Despite having a job that entails exchanging small talk and pleasantries on a daily basis, the Florida governor tends to brush off those obligations and struggles with basic social skills, according to a source close to DeSantis, several of his former staffers, and other GOP operatives who have worked with him and his team.

    “As DeSantis gears up for a potential White House run in 2024, his aloof public persona is being thought of by his rivals—namely, former President Donald Trump—as his Achilles heel in the retail politics-heavy early primary states.

    “And even though he hasn’t announced a bid yet, DeSantis’ apparent desire to test the waters of a presidential campaign—while barely dipping a toe into the aspects he recoils from—is already being put to the test.”

    Frum: Is Ron DeSantis Flaming Out Already?

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    From former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum at The Atlantic:

    DeSantis will be a candidate of the Republican base, for the Republican base. Like Trump, he delights in displaying his lack of regard for everyone else. Trump, however, is driven by his psychopathologies and cannot emotionally cope with disagreement. DeSantis is a rational actor and is following what somebody has convinced him is a sound strategy. It looks like this:

    1. Woo the Fox audience and win the Republican nomination.
    2. ??
    3. Become president.

    Written out like that, you can see the missing piece. DeSantis is surely intelligent and disciplined enough to see it too. But the programming installed in him prevents him from acting on what he sees. His approach to winning the nomination will put the general election beyond his grasp. He must hope that some external catastrophe will defeat his Democratic opponent for him—a recession, maybe—because DeSantis is choosing a path that cannot get him to his goal.