DL Open Thread: Friday, June 9, 2023

A good day for democracy, such as it remains:

Trump Indicted On Federal Charges.

Supreme Court Strikes Down Racial Gerrymander In Alabama.

The solemn heads said that that this is not a time for celebration.  We had wine, so we celebrated.

‘Only The Best Lawyers’.  No, not Trump this time.  We’re talking ‘Santos’, which is likely not his real name.  His attorney was spotted on tape as Jan. 6 rioter:

Yet newly uncovered photos and video footage of January 6 show that his attorney, Joseph Murray, was in the angry pro-Trump mob that trespassed on Capitol grounds.

Archived footage obtained by Mother Jones from that day traces the movements of Murray and Angela Ng, who is identified on the website of Murray’s law firm as its office manager, as they marched from the Ellipse to the Capitol. Both Murray and Ng are retired New York police officers. Ng is also currently listed as working for Santos in his Queens district office as a constituent services representative, according to LegiStorm. Part of the throng of irate Trump loyalists, Murray and Ng passed downed barricades, entered restricted grounds, and made their way up the steps of the north side of the building. There they watched and Murray filmed, as hundreds of rioters nearby broke doors of the Capitol and poured into the building.

Two Irredeemable Assholes Die On Consecutive Days.  Yesterday it was Pat Robertson.  Today?  James Watt.  People of a certain age (mine) recall Watt as the lightbulb-headed anti-environmentalist that Reagan put in charge of the environment:

James Watt, the Reagan administration’s sharp-tongued, pro-development interior secretary who was beloved by conservatives but ran afoul of environmentalists, Beach Boys fans and eventually the president, has died. He was 85.

In an administration divided between so-called pragmatists and hard-liners, few stood as far to the right at the time as Watt, who once labeled the environmental movement as “preservation vs. people” and the general public as a clash between “liberals and Americans.”

In that sense, Watt foreshadowed combative Interior secretaries like Ryan Zinke and David Bernhardt, who, like Watt, aggressively pushed to grant oil, gas and coal leases on public land, increase offshore drilling and limit expansion of national parks and monuments.

“While no one’s death should be celebrated, he was the worst of MAGA before it was invented,” tweeted David Donger of the environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, referring to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.

Big Medicaid Win At Supreme Court.  Only two dissenting votes:  Clarence Thomas and Joseph Alito:

The Supreme Court upheld a key mechanism for beneficiaries of federal spending programs to sue if states violate their rights Thursday, the conclusion of a case that spawned protests, hearings and bottomless worry from activists and experts terrified that the Court would use it to hobble programs like Medicaid.

At first blush, the decision “looks like a grand slam for rights under Federal spending clause programs,” Tim Jost, professor of law, emeritus, at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, said.

“The Supreme Court upheld the rights of nursing home residents and other Medicaid recipients on all points, reaffirming decades of federal law,” he added. “Only Justice Thomas would have held that programs established under congress’s spending power are not enforceable by individuals.”

Rethug Meltdown In House.  Who knows when they’ll meet again?  ‘Not serious people’, indeed:

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is racing to break the lower chamber deadlock triggered this week by disgruntled conservatives, but rank-and-file members aren’t holding their breath for a resolution.

A number of House Republicans left Washington on Thursday warning the sides remain so far apart that it might require weeks — maybe longer — to get the House back to working order.

One Rethug legislator details the R legislative scam out loud:

House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who voted in favor of the rule Tuesday but has joined opponents in meetings with GOP leaders, expressed the same sentiment.

“Let’s face it, when we pass things around here that are messaging bills that don’t do anything, is it really a loss that we’re not passing anything?” Perry said. “And when we do pass things around here that actually hurt the American people, is it a loss that we’re not doing any of that?”

No. And no.

What do you want to talk about?