Personal note:
I will be absent for the next two – possibly three – weeks. I’m traveling to the east coast to participate in the trial and likely sentencing of the young stranger who shattered my arm in a parking lot attack.
Part of my arm is now made of metal. We’ll see if alarms go off at airport security.
Spreading the joy:
Positive energy instantly spreads everywhere pic.twitter.com/CcUjCCGXTd
— Enez Özen (@Enezator) April 29, 2024
- Dave Dubya reviews the absurdities and dangers in the reasoning seemingly embraced by conservative Supreme Court Justices in oral arguments about mr Trump’s immunity claims.
Key example – shamelessly stolen from Dave Dubya:
- Justice Alito wonders if possible prosecution would keep a President from peacefully leaving office.
Julian Sanchez has the right take on the Alito wing of the Supreme Court:Post by @normativeView on Threads - Our favorite Earth-Bound Misfit suggests the current conservative court wing wants to reverse the outcome of the Civil War… oops, nope … they have an earlier war in mind.
- Dave Columbo has Trump arguing against impeachment versus Trump arguing for immunity and what it tells us about the current state of contemporary conservative thought: Anything to get us through the night.
- Vixen Strangely at Strangely Blogged goes through the weird, petty, and inconsistent complaints by the excessively burdened mr Trump.
Key parenthetical:
(first as tragedy, then as farts)
- Could it be sleepless nights of anxiety? Inattentiveness? Eating too much? Purposeful show of contempt? Feeble, tired, onset of dementia? Something else?
CalicoJack in The Psy of Life has several possible causes as mr Trump dozes and farts through court sessions.
- Iron Knee at Political Irony was feeling a little down, so he watched Jimmy Kimmel tear into Trump.
Now the sky is bright and cloudless.
- driftglass goes to the television of my teen years (DAMN, I’m old!) to find a fictional Trump equivalent and comes up with a hokey soapy space opera.
- In Letters from an American, historian Heather Cox Richardson deciphers mr Trump’s interview with Time Magazine on his plans after winning the election. Basic difference with his previous term: No more Mister Nice Guy!!.
The same analysis is now available in audio format, as Richardson narrates in podcast.
Key message:
Based on two interviews with Trump and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisors, the story lays out Trump’s conviction that he was “too nice” in his first term and that he would not make such a mistake again.
- News Corpse draws the obvious conclusion as Sean Hannity is already making excuses for Trump losing future debates to Biden.
- Partisan observations:
Republicans Are The Dumbest People On The Planet. Literally https://t.co/xRJ7eYDoII
— M-A.Stay’Legit™️🇨🇦 (@BagdMilkSoWhat) May 3, 2024
- Scotties Playtime explores intentional voter fraud multiple times by a Republican official, unintentional rule breaking by an ex-convict, the differences in treatment, and why Republicans believe voter fraud is widespread.
- What a nightmare: I am compelled to sense the common sense in posts by two conservatives.
Wisconsin conservative James Wigderson brings us Ann Coulter:If I'm retweeting an Ann Coulter Tweet, she may be on to something. https://t.co/5tMUAlIsxC
— James Wigderson (@jwigderson) April 30, 2024
Thanks A LOT, James!
- North Carolina pastor John Pavlovitz appreciates the virtually unanimous fury at Kristi Noem’s boast that she made the tough decision to kill her misbehaving puppy. But he suggests that conservatives may be missing a vastly larger picture.
- Disaffected and it Feels So Good suggests that Kristi Noem’s puppy experience illustrates something about MAGA types.
Key rule:
Noem is everything Republican men want in a women
- Courtesy Frances Langum, Daily Wire’s Knowles says it’s okay that Noem killed her puppy:
- Legal analyst Imani Gandy has a question.
I don’t understand how you write a memoir about how you murder puppies and don’t think that’s going to be bad for your image
— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) April 29, 2024
…and is answered:
— Imani Gandy (Orca’s Version) ⚓️ (@AngryBlackLady) April 30, 2024
- From The Borowitz Report: a puppy has broken into Kristi Noem’s house and done unspeakable things.
Key motivation:
At a hastily called press conference, a visibly rattled Noem called the puppy’s actions “a result of Joe Biden’s failed policies at the border.”
- Kristi expands her story a bit:
I believe you were boasting that leading your dog to a gravel pit to kill him was evidence that you are tough enough to make stern decisions.
— Burr Deming – @BurrLand01@mastodon.world (@BurrLand01) May 2, 2024
- At The Onion, Elon reacts decisively, making the tough decisions as Tesla meets lower than expected profits by laying off the entire team responsible for vehicle brakes.
- PZ Myers explores the proposition that those in ultra-extreme wealth lose the art of thinking, presenting as his first exhibit Elon Musk, who thinks having children is “literally free”.
Professor Myers explains why gazillionaires might think that.
Key almost-on-topic comes from my late Dad (Still miss you, sir):
The only thing harder than being a parent is being a kid.
- Ted McLaughlin at jobsanger has the numbers. Texas voters oppose school vouchers and support abortion rights.
- Tommy Christopher traces a viral conversation between an ad hoc spokesperson and reporters about revolutionary student actions back to the source and, sure enough…
Key reporter comment:
So it seems like you’re sort of saying, “We want to be revolutionaries. We want to take over this building. Now, would you please bring us food and water?”
Key appropriate snark:
- tengrain at Mock Paper Scissors has no definitive scholarly knowledge of the Middle East, Gaza, protest, or Putin disinformation campaigns. But he has access to those who do.
- M. Bouffant at Web of Evil has links about Netanyahu’s apprehension over possible International Criminal Court charges. He makes a guess about the cause of the fear.
Key speculation:
Uh, because they’re international criminals?
My largely uninformed input: - So, is Jesus hope for the hopeless, rest for the weary?
In The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser, former pastor and current atheist Bruce suggests that Christian faith has done great individual harm to adherents, not because of Jesus but because of how Jesus has been used by Christianity.
- In Hackwhackers it is worth the 13 seconds to read a reflection by the late Harper Lee (To Kill A Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman) on prejudice and faith.
- SilverAppleQueen has an idea of how to enhance your celebration of a pagan holiday.
My comment:
Yikes!
- In Happiness Between Tails, da-AL hosts blogger Marco M. Pardi, who grew up in a culturally mixed family. With insights from that experience, he explores identity: how we can make sense of our place in the world.
- Vincent at A Wayfarer’s Notes compares three very different approaches to love with sonnets from William Shakespeare, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and e.e. cummings.
- I love you more than anything
- I love her as she is, not as an ideal version
- How I will love if I lose you
- I love you more than anything
- The Journal of Improbable Research finds research into the rapid recovery of Japan after WWII, research that concludes how soft power in the form of cuteness played a vital part.
- At The Moderate Voice retired U.S. Air Force Major Dorian de Wind reminds us that an important 80th anniversary will be with us next month and brings us the heroism of just one out of hundreds of thousands: Joe Pinder, Jr. on D-Day in Normandy.
- YellowDog Granny has acerbic memed thoughts on introspection, sanity, psychopathy, and more.
- @whiskeywhistle98 deals firmly with anxiety:
- In Nan’s Notebook, muscle injury pain results in compensating movements which cause more injuries. An encouraging word from each of us doesn’t cost much effort.
- Infidel753 finds a modern technology applied to Judy Garland.
It smooths out all the vocal wrinkles, how about that!
On the other hand, the original actually sounds human.
- Mark Waulberg (No, not Mark Wahlberg, the other Mark) is a fussy eater:
- When we run out of podcasts, clickbait satirist Reductress has helpful advice on how to eavesdrop on other people’s conversations.
Somebody needs to point out to the Supreme Court justices that if the president has immunity from prosecution even for committing serious crimes as “official acts”, then logically a Democratic president would have immunity if he ordered the assassination of Supreme Court justices he considered “corrupt” or whatever so he could replace them with new judges he liked better. That should focus their minds a bit.
Thanks as always for linking to my posts.
Burr,
Condolences for the physical harm done to you, the long recovery, and for the additional uncomfortable inconvenience of having to travel to attend the trial. Best of luck to you and to the fair administration of justice.
And thanks for the plug! Also, you didn’t steal anything that I didn’t first appropriate for myself. 🙂
Safe travels. See you on the other side, friend.