DL Open Thread: Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023

First, a little personal note:  Our 7th RD Democratic Committee cooked the meal for the Arden Dinner Gild last night.  About 120 dinner reservations.  It was a bleepload of fun. Great committee involvement. Jeff Politis was our lead cook, and was perfect for the role–organized, assigned tasks really well, fed and thanked us, and had a delicious meal (Joe Connor’s Guinness Beef Stew recipe)  ready on time.  Brooke Bovard and Brett Saddler did our veggie alternative, Asia Smith was our Salad Master, and Joe Daigle, who has appeared on the Food Channel, did the sumptuous desserts.  Larry Lambert and John Cartier were serious workhorses. If nobody gets violently ill from the dinner, we might just do another one next year.  Thanks to everybody who participated, including Bethany Hall Long and Marcus Henry, who attended the festivities.  A great night!

But, I digress:

Sen. Wyden: If RWNJ Judge Bans Abortion Pill, Ignore Him.  I agree:

To make this more frightening, if and when Kacsmaryk tosses out FDA approval, Americans can’t count on the appellate courts to step in and do what’s right, do what’s constitutional. The appeal would land at the activists Fifth Circuit court of appeals.

“This is the same court that allowed Texas bill SB8, effectively an abortion ban to go into effect before the Supreme Court ruled on Dobbs. From there any appeal would presumably head to the very same Republican majority on the Supreme Court that overturned Roe. The Roberts court doesn’t even wince at revoking constitutional rights and upending decades of precedent on legal grounds that are flimsy. […]

The harm that will result from this decision can’t be overstated. Cut off from care they need, Mr. President, women will die. While this wouldn’t be the first time a judicial decision has caused irreparable harm, this case is particularly offensive. It will come from a lawless judge, picked by the litigants with no standing to bring a case that should be barred by the statute of limits and has absolutely no merit.

“Americans and their leaders must look at circumstances like this and say enough, not ‘we’ll see what Congress might do or what the appeals court might do. […] What’s needed now is to just say enough.” He points to President Abraham Lincoln’s response to Dredd Scott. “Lincoln’s directive […] was that it’s the constitutional duty of elected officials to resist unconstitutional decisions of the courts, even the Supreme Court, if the rulings will harm the nation and its people.”

“If Judge Kacsmaryk can violate his oath, if the Fifth Circuit and Supreme Court bless such a ruling as legitimate, we are going to see an affront to the Constitution,” Wyden concluded. “As Lincoln told his fellow Americans, the Supreme Court is not the Constitution. Neither is Judge Kacsmaryk. The Constitution and the rights it affords American women are what this country must defend. I’m here to say enough—and defend it.”

RWNJ-Alaskan-Style.  I can’t make this stuff up:

An Alaska lawmaker with a history of incendiary remarks was censured by the state House Wednesday after he said it has been argued that cases of fatal child abuse can be a “cost savings” because the child won’t need related government services.

During a committee hearing Monday on adverse childhood experiences, Eastman asked the testifier how he would respond “to the argument that I have heard on occasion where in the case where child abuse is fatal, obviously it’s not good for the child, but it’s actually a benefit to society” because there is not a need for government services that child would otherwise be entitled to if they had lived.

The House Of Representatives censured him by a vote of 35-1.  He was the ‘one’.  Yes, he has ties to the Oath Keepers.

How The Fuck Does The House Speaker Hand Over 41,000 Hours Of Jan. 6 Surveillance Footage To Tucker Carlson?  And no one else?

Several major media organizations have demanded access to the thousands of hours of video recorded inside the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection after House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) gave the footage to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The letter, sent to congressional leaders Friday, argues the footage given exclusively to Carlson should be shared with other media groups. Earlier this week, McCarthy gave Carlson 41,000 hours of closed-circuit footage from inside the U.S. Capitol during the attack.

Attorney Charles Tobin, representing the outlets, said full public access to the footage is needed to complete the historical record.

“Without full public access to the complete historical record, there is concern that an ideologically-based narrative of an already polarizing event will take hold in the public consciousness, with destabilizing risks to the legitimacy of Congress, the Capitol Police, and the various federal investigations and prosecutions of January 6 crimes,” Tobin wrote in the letter.

Didn’t read it. Won’t miss it.

As Unions Stage A Comeback, So Does Union-Busting:

US corporations have mounted a fierce counterattack against the union drives at Starbucks, Amazon and other companies, and in response, federal officials are working overtime to crack down on those corporations’ illegal anti-union tactics – maneuvers that labor leaders fear could significantly drain the momentum behind today’s surge of unionization.

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the federal agency that polices labor-management relations, has accused Starbucks and Amazon of a slew of illegal anti-union practices, among them firing many workers in retaliation for backing a union. Nonetheless, many workplace experts question whether the NLRB’s efforts, no matter how vigorous, can assure that workers have a fair shot at unionizing.

Echoing many union leaders, Eisen says US labor laws are woefully inadequate because they don’t allow regulators to impose any fines on companies that break the law when fighting against unionization. Starbucks and Amazon deny firing anyone illegally or violating any laws in their fight against unionization.

“These workers were supposed to be able to get together without fear of retaliation,” said Lynne Fox, president of Workers United, the union that workers at more than 280 Starbucks have voted to join. “But companies, including Starbucks, have determined that the penalty for retaliation is minimal – and much more appealing than allowing workers to unionize. Violating workers’ rights has simply become part of the cost of doing business.” Labor leaders complain that the penalty imposed for illegal retaliation is often just an order to post a notice on a company’s bulletin boards saying that it broke the law.

The Delaware General Assembly should pass legislation forbidding any taxpayer giveaways to companies that promote anti-organizing activities.  Looking at you, Amazon.  Who will introduce the bill??

The News-Journal’s Valentine To Hobby Lobby. No mention of the company’s virulent anti-gay bias and other controversies.  You can read about them here–and you should.  Were they capable of embarrassment, and they clearly are not, News-Journal editors would have insisted that at least some coverage of that history be provided. As it stands, the piece belongs under the banner of ‘advertising’. Absolutely pathetic.

What do you want to talk about?