DL Open Thread: Thursday, July 20, 2023
Speaker McCarthy Makes Another Promise He Can’t Keep. Because–Trump:
After House Speaker Kevin McCarthy suggested on national television last month that Donald Trump may not be the GOP’s best presidential nominee in 2024, the former president was furious — and wanted the California Republican to rectify the slight immediately.
“He needs to endorse me — today!” Trump fumed to his staff on his way to a campaign event in New Hampshire, according to people familiar with what happened. McCarthy, after all, had indicated to Trump’s team that he would do so eventually. Why not clean up the mess and announce his support now?
But the House GOP leader — who has felt compelled to stay neutral during the primary so as to not box in his own members — wasn’t ready to do that. To calm Trump, McCarthy made him a promise, according to a source close to Trump and familiar with the conversation: The House would vote to expunge the two impeachments against the former president. And — as McCarthy would communicate through aides later that same day — they would do so before August recess.
Several moderate House Republicans are loath to revisit Trump’s impeachments — especially the charges stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (In fact, though only 10 of their GOP colleagues voted with Democrats to impeach Trump after the Jan. 6 attack, several more wanted to but were too worried about threats to their offices and families to take the plunge.)
But should McCarthy follow through, those members won’t have a choice. Given the speaker’s tenuous position with Trump allies in the House and the threat of his ouster looming over every move, McCarthy has no real option but to bow to the former president’s whims — even if it means putting vulnerable frontliners in a precarious political position.
The speaker has denied that he made such a promise to Trump at all, according to one Hill aide. From McCarthy’s point of view, he merely indicated that he would discuss the matter with his members — putting him and Trump on a collision course.
On A Mission From God–To Hold Big Oil Accountable:
Missy Sims carefully picked her way through a field of ruined tombs in central Puerto Rico, in a cemetery where walls of water from Hurricane Maria had smashed open some coffins and sent others careering into a nearby stream.
“This is apocalyptic, end of the world, end of times stuff,” said Ms. Sims, an attorney who is representing 16 Puerto Rican municipalities that are seeking to hold the fossil fuel industry responsible for the damage caused by a series of storms, including Maria.
Ms. Sims, 54, may be the most surprising legal figure to emerge as the world grapples with the devastating impacts of a warming planet. An Armani-and-Rolex wearing observant Catholic from a small Midwest town who talks to God as she mulls her complex legal cases, Ms. Sims is also a constant TikTok poster whose dog has more followers than some celebrities.
And she is now the singular force behind a creative legal gambit to make oil and gas companies pay for the devastation being wrought by climate change in Puerto Rico. Her strategy is being carefully watched by the fossil fuel industry and environmental groups as well as other lawyers and municipalities.
The lawsuit she filed in November goes after a who’s who of the fossil fuel industry — Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Royal Dutch Shell, BP and others. Ms. Sims argues that since 1965, those companies have produced 40 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, while at the same time colluding to deceive the public about the disastrous consequences of their actions.
The case is part of a new wave of litigation targeting oil, gas and coal companies over climate change, which is driven by the burning of their products. But it stands out in two significant ways.
It was the first to allege that, by downplaying the effects of global warming for decades, the fossil fuel companies violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was originally designed to crack down on organized crime. So-called RICO charges expose the defendants to potentially huge financial damages and open up a new front in their growing legal challenges.
If Only Lappy The Laptop Could Talk…:
READ it. What do you think? Sure seems like Hunter Biden’s digital identity may have been compromised by, um, malicious actors. Still, lotsa questions, few answers.
Slaves Benefited From Slavery. REALLY. It’s gonna be part of Florida’s history curriculum:
The Florida Board of Education has approved a controversial set of academic standards for African American social studies classes in K-12 schools.
The standards, which are being released as Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Florida Republicans have continued a crusade against public education, include language that states “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
Hmmm, perhaps they’re referencing singing spirituals in the fields, which led to–Motown?
Rethugs: ‘Barbie’ Propaganda For The Woke Mob. Presumably b/c the ‘barefoot and pregnant Barbie’ didn’t make an appearance in the film:
Be vigilant, everyone. According to conservative lawmakers, Hollywood is attempting to manipulate the American public into consuming Chinese propaganda via subliminal messages about international maritime disputes. The culprit? A movie about dolls.
An image from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie (disclosure: I already have a ticket) has sent rightwing pundits and politicians into an uproar. Senators like Marsha Blackburn and Ted Cruz claim a cartoon map depicts the “nine-dash line” which China uses to assert control over the South China Sea. They argue that the movie’s supposed inclusion of the line legitimizes China’s position, which gives it more power over strategically important waters.
(For reference, the map in question is a highly stylized and deliberately inaccurate sketch. It also depicts England as bordering Asia. With a crown on top.)Back in Barbie Land, Republicans’ insistence on fabricating culture war issues isn’t limited to disputes over territorial seas. Ginger Luckey Gaetz, the 26-year-old wife of Representative Matt Gaetz, knocked the movie because it “neglects to address any notion of faith or family”. She also lamented the “disappointingly low T from Ken,” Barbie’s famously genital-free companion.
I’m halfway tempted to go to a theatre to see the movie, and chug a Bud Light. Well, go to a theatre, anyway.
Opinion: Seaford’s Self-Inflicted Wounds. Malefactors and/or incompetents?
Something We Don’t Need–Speed Radar Emoji Signs. But, hey, if we’ve gotta have ’em, why don’t y’all come up with the ideal emojis for certain Delaware motorists? Besides that…
What do you want to talk about?
Knew in advance the Republican controlled house would be a freak show and am not disappointed. We’ve seen this before as they attempt to rule the world and go into a dance macabre of insanity, stupidity and in this case the beating of the dead horse we call Hunter Biden. Seaford? As thou art stupid, rural and living in a far right farmer dream world what did you expect? Other then a counter attack of idiocy from Georgetown. That and at some point I knew the fools would revert to that old favorite of the Confederacy that despite being beaten, raped and tortured the slaves still managed to be “Happy and content” and allegedly loaded with skills they acquired between beatings.
Saw this online, re the MAGA worldview:
“…it’s a fantasy world, wrapped in horseshit, inside a mental illness, covering up a learning disability.”
what do these three things have in common: (1) grass courts (2) Union Jack, and (3) dry martinis in first class?
ANSWER: Ask Alan Levin.
What’s all this Alan Levin hate about?
Here’s what I know–he was a GREAT boss. My wife was a pharmacist when he was the Happy Harry’s honcho. He had a rule–when he walked into a store, the employees were to continue providing customer service, and NOT to greet him.
He was the opposite of an elitist boss. Serving the customer was always the highest priority.
I dunno, McCarthy might have pulled one on TFG, just to shut him up. There is no mechanism to “expunge” impeachments. If TFG was too stupid to realize that, well, color me surprised.
Impeachment is forever, and expungement isn’t a thing. But they could float some kind of non-binding resolution, which would be basically asking Republicans to formally renew their loyalty pledge for an indicted candidate. Which all Democratic candidates should use in their campaigns.
Which is why so-called ‘centrist’ Rethugs are sending out SOS’s to ‘leadership’ that they can’t vote for the proposal, otherwise they’re certain goners.