They are all traitors. The RNC operates as an organized crime syndicate managed by fascist billionaires/oligarchs, both foreign and domestic. Every Repug in office is a puppet—traitors and collaborators for fascist Puppet Masters. They ALL need to be kicked to the curb. And Citizens United needs to be revoked.
I'd prefer to kick more than his can and more than just further down the road. Johnson is a slimy, evil little cretin, hiding under a bland, harmless seeming exterior.
He's a little bit like Pence except he looks a little less sanctimonious and evidently is allowed out of the house with females. His normal appearance really hides a loathsome person.
Marlene -- When I compare Mike Johnson to Nancy Pelosi as a Speaker I want to cry. She got things done, whereas Johnson just diddles around and makes excuses.
Thats only the beginning of a comparison between the two. One is a tough, savvy, person of integrity and political wisdom with balls. The other is Mike Johnson.
I guess we're lucky the speakership didn't go direct from Pelosi to Johnson. In between we had Kevin McCarthy, who in some ways was more pathetic than Johnson. McCarthy bowed and scraped to get the job then proved PDQ that he wasn't qualified to do it in the first place. Johnson is more like the fourth-in-line understudy who no one thought for a minute would actually have to go onstage.
It looked to me like nobody else wanted the job. They're all too scared of Trump, even lickspittles such as Jim Jordan, who I thought would be a shoo-in.
It's not hard to understand why nobody else wanted the job -- at least no one capable of actually doing it. My sense is that Jordan, being an abrasive creep, had antagonized enough members of the Republican caucus that they wouldn't support him for Speaker, even if they wouldn't say so in public. Given a choice between an abrasive creep and a weak reed, they probably figured that the latter would do less damage.
I think you're right. Jordan is obnoxious even though he's a staunch Trump loyalist, which is what made me think of him. There was no experienced loyalist willing to take the job despite being second in line for the throne, so the humiliated GOP chose the inexperienced nobody, Mike Johnson.
Have your air-sick bag ready. This gives a view of his willingness to lie about "the facts". My only hope is that karma will prevail. youtube.com/watch?v=WH_LTnYUVXY
OMG, Jesus , Mary and Joseph, Moses and everyone else, Joyce this letter describes a Marx brothers movie. I have never imagined that the United States would be tied up in court to the extent that we are not exercising , leadership, justice and principles . When I read this I need an airbag. Thank you Joyce, every issue here needs our full attention.
I agree with you, Christopher. This will be the most IMPORTANT time in US history for everyone to start paying more attention to what's going on, more than ever before, because there's so much at stake this year.
As for your needing an airbag, I don't have one for me, either. However, my kitchen trash can is about five feet from where I sit right now. Glad I changed it earlier.
I can't believe crusty old politicians are debating the scientific nuances of conception, intra- vs. extrauterine pregnancies, and children vs. embryos. Whether you agree or disagree with the specifics, it is frightening that the general public does not worry about forfeiting control of such personal decisions to the government. Who knows what they will tinker with next, practicing medicine without a license.
They're so out to lunch I'm surprised they don't think the stork brings babies! Now that I think of it, maybe if we could convince them of that, they'd turn their attention elsewhere and let women and doctors make their own informed decisions.
Every time I hear about Trump and his lawyers’ best (or only) tactic being delay, I think of AG Garland, whose inexcusable delay in waiting TWO YEARS to even start an investigation of 45 gave 45 just what he needed.
I regret DA Willis is going through this very difficult episode and hope that she will be able to continue to prosecute the Georgia RICO case against 45 and his co-defendants. Unlike Garland, Willis and her team did not hesitate to begin their courageous investigation on behalf of the voters of Georgia. I’m not surprised that the criminal co-defendant Roman has tried to sabotage the entire case; if it hadn’t been a smear campaign about an office romance, he/they would have found another way to delay or derail. But the one they’re pursuing is both misogynistic and racist at its heart.
History will show this inability to enforce the tenets of our Constitution falls squarely on AG Garland. Garland’s inexcusably slow response to Trump’s treason allowed his “lie and deny” defense to work. The
Insurrection was January 6, 2021. It is now February 26, 2024; 1,146 days later, still nothing. Stolen classifies documents, nothing. Election interference; use Willis’s personal life as a distraction. The list goes on and on. What a travesty of justice. What will we tell our children?
Before Garland, it was the FBI who admitted to not “fully vetting” tRump. There is something REALLY DIRTY going on in the Justice Department. Comey could tell us if he wasn’t such a blatant traitor.
I thought Comey was a total rat for disclosing the Clinton investigation days before the election
I learned later that so many FBI agents were pro-Trump that he was convinced they were on the verge of leaking that info.
That would have looked like he was hiding something bad. He thought he could minimize the damage by making a public statement.
It still surprises me that so many people think the FBI is some bastion of liberals and Democrats. Its completely the opposite. Always has been. I can't believe I'm cheering them on sometimes when they're doing their job.
If you haven’t read of Charles MacGonigal, you will want to. The Special Agent for the FBI and Chief if Counterintelligence of the FBI NY office during the time of the 2016 election. He was on the payroll of a Russian oligarch. He was later tried, fined and sentenced to 40 months. Historian Timothy Snyder is one of the few who’ve pointed to the implications of it in his Substack. Giuliani had close ties to the FBI NY, among other things.
True. The New York office was corrupt and in league with Giuliani. I hadn’t considered how that impacted Comey. Couldn’t he have cleaned out that office? Or called them out instead of Ms. Clinton? So many times lately that have called for courage and very few have answered.
Comey pretended he was acting in the interests of transparency. But in fact, he was not transparent about what was happening. If I wanted to give him credit, I could say he didn't understand the depth of the penetration of Russia in the ranks of the FBI, or maybe he didn't want to reveal that the depth of penetration was understood. But I believe he erred, as did Obama in yielding to McConnell's declaration that he (McConnell) would claim it was political interference if Obama revealed what the CIA had learned about Russian misinformation and the Trump campaign. A lot of bad actors. People like to think of McConnell as one of the sane ones in MAGA world; that doesn't mean he's not a bad actor.
Here is Timothy Snyder's substack from around the time the story about the FBI NY counter-intelligence chief's involvement with Russia broke. It got almost zero coverage by so-called MSM, who apparently didn't find it newsworthy.. https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-specter-of-2016
So am I the only one thinking beyond the obvious disregard IVF treatment as a viable processes to start a family. Have any of Southern white men thought of loved ones and constituents diagnosed with cancer who want to preserve their ability to start a family by freezing before they start chemotherapy? I’m afraid people like Tubby and Haley who agree with the way the wind is blowing on any given day, this decision will destroy families not preserve them. after 59 years of life in the US, I put my luggage where my mouth is and moved away. I miss good deli and cheese steaks, not the politics and vitriol
I think Haley on her campaign trail said she used it to have her child. Not kidding and she is still maga (she like Kemp are now repeating putin talking points).
No fan of Haley - but I believe she used artificial insemination (per one report) - which is different - no frozen embryos involved. However, another report said that Mike Pence and his wife did indeed use IVF.
My niece has frozen eggs to preserve her ability to have children after going through breast cancer treatments and I was wondering when these idiots would go after the eggs too (not yet embryos). It’s fair to say, some nitwit will make a legal “argument” that “potential children” in the form of an egg must also be “protected”. That old question about the chicken and the egg is going to be used in court.
Hundreds of thousands of sperm are lost in a single act of intercourse or masturbation, so there's that, and sperm are continuously being made within the male body, unlike eggs, the number of which does not change from birth.
These thugs posing as our representatives just make decisions for the shiny bobble right in front of them, without evaluating the possibility of unintended consequences... UGGGHHHH
I've spent a lot of time in the region, and I agree, pretty sticky place, I think for women especially. I also don't enjoy the macho culture. Women should rule the continents.
You can get good deli and cheese steaks here in NY, and freezing sperm and embryos is available and much less threatened. Only wealthy people can afford it, though. When I lived in Egypt, a Salafi Muslim woman I knew used IVF to conceive her son, who was one of my students. I imagine it's much more affordable there,
Compassion seems distinctly missing from the MAGA's repertoire, Mike. It amazes me, too. No matter the absurdity, it's "Shoot first and justify later."
See how Republicans are moving rapidly to a total ban with this infographic from overturning Roe v Wade, blocking travel out of state, banning abortion pills and now a ban on IVF.
The people elected representatives to represent their constituents not their own personal religious beliefs with total disregard for science. All these bans on women’s healthcare are based on religious beliefs, not medicine. This is totally unconstitutional and unconscionable! As women we are no longer guaranteed the same rights from state to state. We are no longer the United States of America.
So if I’m following, you’re reading the tea leaves that because the Supremes are taking so long to rule on Trump’s immunity claim, you’re guessing that the ruling looks like he won’t be immune but some Justices who wanted to grant him immunity are running a delay game by slow walking their dissent?
Can't wait to hear which judges dissent. Immunity will be added to the list of questions asked of all future Supreme Court justice confirmation hearings going forward, as if we can actually believe them.
I was commenting generally about the possibility that some judges might be slow walking the ruling, which would be the only thing they could do to help Trump in that case if all others are not giving immunity.
Beyond a certain point, even Chief Justice John Roberts will have to rule that the decision will be made known and the dissents can follow when ready.....
Lynell, In my view, neither Trump nor his representation has any doubts that Trump’s claim of absolute immunity will be denied in both the J6 and Documents cases. The matter solely is about timing and whether at least 1 of these criminal cases goes to trial before voters cast their ballots. I would add these 2 are the only trials (the J6 trial more so than the Documents case) where a conviction could drive away close to a fourth of the voters who otherwise would vote for Trump. Accordingly, accounting for as many conceivable variables as my hardly full-proof acumen allows me to consider, I would submit our judicial system has held if the J6 case is decided before the election.
Slow walking the immunity decision until after the November election. At which point, if trump wins they grant immunity. If this happens God help us all…..
It should be enough to say— if you don’t believe in abortion, then don’t have one. Abortions are a very personal decision and not taken lightly by women who need them. MYOB tubby et al.
Joyce, I hope you agree Trump’s argument that he was covered by presidential immunity when he committed various federal felonies in handling and hiding classified documents in Florida even in his personal desk drawer AFTER he left the presidency is ridiculous? Judge Cannon should see through that promptly and if not, the 11th Circuit will do so! Whatever one thinks about presidential immunity for a sitting President (which is an absurd concept), it is inconceivable that it would apply to criminal activity post presidential status. What do think? Thanks for all your superb advice and analysis!
The classic movie Citizen Kane directed, produced, and stared in by Orson Welles will one day in the future, have a remake only this time the main pseudo-fictional character will be Donald Trump. The movie scene will open with a very bloated relic of his former self; uneven orange-smeared makeup slabbed across his face in bed. His overgrown blond hair similar to the unkept muss of Boris Johnson now showing gray roots from lack of up-to-date hair dye. He periodically wakes from a semi-conscious state at his future dilapidated Mar-a-Lago residence (for lack of having sufficient funds to upkeep the property from the litigants success in many past court cases.) He looks around demanding more Kentucky Fried Chicken wings as low paid service personal rush in another bucket and his last word is not “Rosebud” as in the movie Citizen Kane but:
“Stormy.” And the ex 45th president of the United States expires. The camera fades to black then opens at Le Club in the early disco 1970s, a members-only Manhattan nightclub in the East 50s, where models, fashionistas and a variety of Eurotrash (including his wives) went to be seen.
“The government has just filed suit against our company,” said Trump, “saying we discriminated against Blacks. What do you think we should do?”
The Roy Cohn obedient ass-kisser to Senator Joe McCarthy hearings accusing entertainment personalities of being communists shoots back, “Tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court and let them prove you discriminated against them.”
Roy Cohn has become Trump’s go to lawyer and fixer.
Cohn admonishes the young Trump to 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deep into the shit you get, claim victory and never admit defeat. These lessons were found to the bases of his future self.
And the band played on in the Cannon court. Samo Samo. Would be easy to give into the noise but we know better. Thank you for your dedication to prove the Rule of Law works. Gov Gavin Newsom made a strong case for Biden today on Meet the Press. We need all dems together making the case that there is only one option in November to sustain our democracy and our humanity. Should be easy enough but many are focused on the Middle East and I have concern about the Michigan primary coming up. Fingers crossed. Thank you Joyce for your strength and focus every day ☮️🇺🇸🗽🗳️🕯️🥁
“If Trump is re-elected I’m leaving the United States because I don’t feel safe… and you Ari, and anyone who has publicly been critical of Trump is at risk too.” said journalist Tony Swartz, to MSNBC legal expert Ari Melber. This broke the ice. Now other media stories tell of frightened Trump critics who are afraid he would have their passports voided if they try and leave the country to escape Trump’s promised retribution. Swartz mentioned Trump having an enemies list. As I’ve asked here months ago- does anyone believe that Joyce Vance isn’t on it?
This is exhausting. Judge Cannon is no more than a shill for tfg. I have zero legal expertise but it seems apparent she is either completely inept or just doing his bidding. And then there's the R's relentless revenge tour - a second impeachment of Mayorkas, an ongoing impeachment of Biden, and (I think) ongoing stuff against Hunter. (I struggle to keep up with the insanity.) When in the he-- are the R's going to start legislating and stop mindless/meaningless prosecutions? They have a budget to pass!! And why do so many people support them?
Cheers to better days ahead! (A girl's gotta have hope.)
OK, I'll bite. Since the subpoena was made by a defendant for records that have no direct bearing on his case.....huh? What? How?
Given that neither the Secret Service nor the FBI's records for the 2021 time period 1/5, 1/6, could be found or released - what kind of bait is being used in this fishing expedition? Did the carrier suddenly improve its retrieval methods?
Here’s a quick guide to GOP antiabortion logic: if you want it, an embryo’s not a baby. If you don’t want it, it is a baby.
Of course Republicans can hypocritically do anything they want. But since they have put the definition of embryo as baby into the state constitution, I don’t see how the legislature can undo the state constitution, as definitively interpreted by the state Supreme Court.
And I think the Democrats’ position shouldn’t be to ask for exceptions within this idiotic framework, but to demand that the provision be repealed from the Alabama Constitution.
Plainly the exception makes no sense. If a fertilized egg has full personhood as of the moment of fertilization, what difference does implantation make? And by the way, are they also changing their position on IUDs? Are they now okay when they prevent implantation?
Any woman of child bearing age should leave the state if at all possible because, among other reasons, any failed pregnancy is suspect and may well be deemed a criminal act.
They look like tiny swimming dudes. Isn't that what counts? They can move independently, they have a goal in mind, so obviously they're thinking. And making plans for the future. Way more "baby-like" than a lump of unmoving cells.
I have a question: assuming that four or more eggs are fertilized and become embryos, and that one or two of the healthiest embryos are placed inside a uterus; and should the woman receiving IVF choose not to freeze the embryos which aren’t being implanted, are those embryos discarded? If they are, and the Alabama Constitution alleges that life begins at conception, then are the laws that the Alabama Legislature is supposedly writing to protect IVF automatically unconstitutional?
If that’s the case, then this entire matter might head to the U.S. Supreme Court, who’ll have to decide when life begins. At least that’s how I’m reading this mess.
Well, Will, these legislators (if you can honestly call them that🙄) deem that the eggs are “babies”, I say dress those babies up and distribute them directly to these guys so that they can pay for their welfare, for a lifetime.
All kidding aside, couples who have frozen their eggs will no longer be the “owners”. They cannot even transfer their eggs over to an out of state facility. Couples rights are diminished.
What if these embryos’ owners (I’m speaking hypothetically-I’m truly sorry for the couples who have invested emotionally and financially in their dream of healthy babies) but what if these Donors abandon the embryos , at say, the equivalent of the baby boxes found at Alabama fire stations these days? If they do, will the state pay for preservation past viability (50+ years)? Will the state try to foster them to avoid the expense? Will the state go into the surrogacy motherhood business (which some IVF clinics already offer as an option once unnecessary embryos are released to the clinics’ care?)
Can’t someone look at this from the point of science? Embryos have no brains, no hearts, no senses. I am not heartless, and I’m not being immune to the heartbreak of infertility- I’ve been there. I just can’t see any good coming along the path our RW legislators and judges have taken.
You’re talking to the choir, Susan. The science is all there but the stupid and ignorant just ignore it. I see a lot of lawsuits happening in the very near future against Alabama and any others which want to take this matter up.
From @Noorillah “It seems important to know that an embryo is not a fetus. An embryo exists from the time of fertilization to 11th week of pregnancy (which is the 9th week after fertilization). At that point, it is defined as a fetus. What these judges have decided to call a child is not even a fetus, it is an embryo.
(And a fetus is not a child until it can survive independently of the womb.) The absurdity of this decision is gobsmacking.”
AND! Limiting IVF to one and only one implantation severely reduces the chances of a successful pregnancy. This is why they like to implant several embryos at once to make sure ATLEAST one will implant successfully and within a viable part of the uterus. It’s extremely expensive; patients pay cash, and to further reduce chances of success is really cruel. The whole process is already emotionally fraught.
In the event that there are multiple implants, this raises the risks for both the pregnancy on a whole and for the mother, while reducing likelihood of successfully making it to term. This is where “a reduction” is used—removing some of the embryos to enhance chances of viability for the remaining embryos.
According to the Alabama SC judges, and their infinite idiocy, a reduction would constitute an abortion.
And NO. Embryos are NOT children. Nikki Haley is a mouthpiece for extremists, not intelligent, not original and dead wrong about her lofty opinions.
I would like to kick Mike Johnson’s can down the road.
I'd like to kick him right out of the Congress. The treacherous treasonous traitor!
How about we cut his trumpian puppet strings.
They are all traitors. The RNC operates as an organized crime syndicate managed by fascist billionaires/oligarchs, both foreign and domestic. Every Repug in office is a puppet—traitors and collaborators for fascist Puppet Masters. They ALL need to be kicked to the curb. And Citizens United needs to be revoked.
All so very true!
Count me in too. I’m vertically challenged so I’m the below the belt type.
Below the belt and from behind without warning.
I'd prefer to kick more than his can and more than just further down the road. Johnson is a slimy, evil little cretin, hiding under a bland, harmless seeming exterior.
He's a little bit like Pence except he looks a little less sanctimonious and evidently is allowed out of the house with females. His normal appearance really hides a loathsome person.
👍🏽😒
Marlene -- When I compare Mike Johnson to Nancy Pelosi as a Speaker I want to cry. She got things done, whereas Johnson just diddles around and makes excuses.
Thats only the beginning of a comparison between the two. One is a tough, savvy, person of integrity and political wisdom with balls. The other is Mike Johnson.
Wish it was just that Mikey is merely diddling around--but it's more that he is obedient to the commands of the guy who LOST the last election.
and the one that is about to get re-elected in Russia.
I guess we're lucky the speakership didn't go direct from Pelosi to Johnson. In between we had Kevin McCarthy, who in some ways was more pathetic than Johnson. McCarthy bowed and scraped to get the job then proved PDQ that he wasn't qualified to do it in the first place. Johnson is more like the fourth-in-line understudy who no one thought for a minute would actually have to go onstage.
It looked to me like nobody else wanted the job. They're all too scared of Trump, even lickspittles such as Jim Jordan, who I thought would be a shoo-in.
It's not hard to understand why nobody else wanted the job -- at least no one capable of actually doing it. My sense is that Jordan, being an abrasive creep, had antagonized enough members of the Republican caucus that they wouldn't support him for Speaker, even if they wouldn't say so in public. Given a choice between an abrasive creep and a weak reed, they probably figured that the latter would do less damage.
I think you're right. Jordan is obnoxious even though he's a staunch Trump loyalist, which is what made me think of him. There was no experienced loyalist willing to take the job despite being second in line for the throne, so the humiliated GOP chose the inexperienced nobody, Mike Johnson.
Calling Gymshorts Jordan obnoxious is gilding a Lily.
I'll help
Me too, Marli!
I've got new boots! Just dying to try them out!
Pointy toes, I hope.
What kind of heels? Do they have instructions for pouring piss out of the boot, on them?
It's not Johnson. It's the guy who alone can do it. Johnson is another puppet.
Belly laugh on this one, Marlene!
😆😆😆
Count me in as well.
Have your air-sick bag ready. This gives a view of his willingness to lie about "the facts". My only hope is that karma will prevail. youtube.com/watch?v=WH_LTnYUVXY
blek😵
Forget his can, I would like to kick Mike Johnson into the ditch at the side of the road.
YEESSSS!!!
OMG, Jesus , Mary and Joseph, Moses and everyone else, Joyce this letter describes a Marx brothers movie. I have never imagined that the United States would be tied up in court to the extent that we are not exercising , leadership, justice and principles . When I read this I need an airbag. Thank you Joyce, every issue here needs our full attention.
I agree with you, Christopher. This will be the most IMPORTANT time in US history for everyone to start paying more attention to what's going on, more than ever before, because there's so much at stake this year.
As for your needing an airbag, I don't have one for me, either. However, my kitchen trash can is about five feet from where I sit right now. Glad I changed it earlier.
In the absense of substance, the R's have become specialists in subversion.
I can't believe crusty old politicians are debating the scientific nuances of conception, intra- vs. extrauterine pregnancies, and children vs. embryos. Whether you agree or disagree with the specifics, it is frightening that the general public does not worry about forfeiting control of such personal decisions to the government. Who knows what they will tinker with next, practicing medicine without a license.
That’s exactly what they are doing: Practicing medicine without a license.
Republican men think pregnancies are carried in a woman's stomach so this could take a while
They're so out to lunch I'm surprised they don't think the stork brings babies! Now that I think of it, maybe if we could convince them of that, they'd turn their attention elsewhere and let women and doctors make their own informed decisions.
Remember the Framers at least gave slaves 2/3s personhood. Women didn't even get that.
No wonder we're so effed up.
And the women on the court don't even fight for that, Amy Skanky Barrett
I like to refer to her as Mrs. Jesse Barrett. If she wants to live in the 1950s, let her.
Actually slaves originally counted as 3/5 of a person…. not even 2/3. Pretty sad.
One of those things that is difficult to digest…..
They are already doing that…..
Every time I hear about Trump and his lawyers’ best (or only) tactic being delay, I think of AG Garland, whose inexcusable delay in waiting TWO YEARS to even start an investigation of 45 gave 45 just what he needed.
I regret DA Willis is going through this very difficult episode and hope that she will be able to continue to prosecute the Georgia RICO case against 45 and his co-defendants. Unlike Garland, Willis and her team did not hesitate to begin their courageous investigation on behalf of the voters of Georgia. I’m not surprised that the criminal co-defendant Roman has tried to sabotage the entire case; if it hadn’t been a smear campaign about an office romance, he/they would have found another way to delay or derail. But the one they’re pursuing is both misogynistic and racist at its heart.
History will show this inability to enforce the tenets of our Constitution falls squarely on AG Garland. Garland’s inexcusably slow response to Trump’s treason allowed his “lie and deny” defense to work. The
Insurrection was January 6, 2021. It is now February 26, 2024; 1,146 days later, still nothing. Stolen classifies documents, nothing. Election interference; use Willis’s personal life as a distraction. The list goes on and on. What a travesty of justice. What will we tell our children?
Before Garland, it was the FBI who admitted to not “fully vetting” tRump. There is something REALLY DIRTY going on in the Justice Department. Comey could tell us if he wasn’t such a blatant traitor.
I thought Comey was a total rat for disclosing the Clinton investigation days before the election
I learned later that so many FBI agents were pro-Trump that he was convinced they were on the verge of leaking that info.
That would have looked like he was hiding something bad. He thought he could minimize the damage by making a public statement.
It still surprises me that so many people think the FBI is some bastion of liberals and Democrats. Its completely the opposite. Always has been. I can't believe I'm cheering them on sometimes when they're doing their job.
If you haven’t read of Charles MacGonigal, you will want to. The Special Agent for the FBI and Chief if Counterintelligence of the FBI NY office during the time of the 2016 election. He was on the payroll of a Russian oligarch. He was later tried, fined and sentenced to 40 months. Historian Timothy Snyder is one of the few who’ve pointed to the implications of it in his Substack. Giuliani had close ties to the FBI NY, among other things.
Thank you. Will follow this up. Tim Snyder is an impeccable researcher, in my book.
True. The New York office was corrupt and in league with Giuliani. I hadn’t considered how that impacted Comey. Couldn’t he have cleaned out that office? Or called them out instead of Ms. Clinton? So many times lately that have called for courage and very few have answered.
Comey pretended he was acting in the interests of transparency. But in fact, he was not transparent about what was happening. If I wanted to give him credit, I could say he didn't understand the depth of the penetration of Russia in the ranks of the FBI, or maybe he didn't want to reveal that the depth of penetration was understood. But I believe he erred, as did Obama in yielding to McConnell's declaration that he (McConnell) would claim it was political interference if Obama revealed what the CIA had learned about Russian misinformation and the Trump campaign. A lot of bad actors. People like to think of McConnell as one of the sane ones in MAGA world; that doesn't mean he's not a bad actor.
Here is Timothy Snyder's substack from around the time the story about the FBI NY counter-intelligence chief's involvement with Russia broke. It got almost zero coverage by so-called MSM, who apparently didn't find it newsworthy.. https://snyder.substack.com/p/the-specter-of-2016
It seems to me, just a plain, not lawyer person, this is very Trumped up nonsense. That a court is entertaining this nonsense is disturbing.
Absolutely agree with you. And I have no indication that the judge sees through all of it. Jiminy
Extremely disturbing!
So am I the only one thinking beyond the obvious disregard IVF treatment as a viable processes to start a family. Have any of Southern white men thought of loved ones and constituents diagnosed with cancer who want to preserve their ability to start a family by freezing before they start chemotherapy? I’m afraid people like Tubby and Haley who agree with the way the wind is blowing on any given day, this decision will destroy families not preserve them. after 59 years of life in the US, I put my luggage where my mouth is and moved away. I miss good deli and cheese steaks, not the politics and vitriol
Tuberville is a complete moron. I’m surprised that he can walk and breathe at the same time!
Too many footballs to the noggin.
I think Haley on her campaign trail said she used it to have her child. Not kidding and she is still maga (she like Kemp are now repeating putin talking points).
No fan of Haley - but I believe she used artificial insemination (per one report) - which is different - no frozen embryos involved. However, another report said that Mike Pence and his wife did indeed use IVF.
Yep, Pence wrote about it in his book (which I did not read).
My niece has frozen eggs to preserve her ability to have children after going through breast cancer treatments and I was wondering when these idiots would go after the eggs too (not yet embryos). It’s fair to say, some nitwit will make a legal “argument” that “potential children” in the form of an egg must also be “protected”. That old question about the chicken and the egg is going to be used in court.
But you know they'll never go after the sperm. Their sacred!
Hundreds of thousands of sperm are lost in a single act of intercourse or masturbation, so there's that, and sperm are continuously being made within the male body, unlike eggs, the number of which does not change from birth.
These thugs posing as our representatives just make decisions for the shiny bobble right in front of them, without evaluating the possibility of unintended consequences... UGGGHHHH
Too many of their constituents are also lacking in foresight.
Love " put my luggage where my mouth is." Good for you.
I miss the amazing Tex/Mex, Mexican and South American food I just can't get and have to cook myself (not bad, but not close either).
Where did you end up, we are outside of Quito Ecuador
Europe with other options. Are you safe where you are?
I miss Egyptian and authentic Mediterranean food, but no way would I ever move back there.
I've spent a lot of time in the region, and I agree, pretty sticky place, I think for women especially. I also don't enjoy the macho culture. Women should rule the continents.
You can get good deli and cheese steaks here in NY, and freezing sperm and embryos is available and much less threatened. Only wealthy people can afford it, though. When I lived in Egypt, a Salafi Muslim woman I knew used IVF to conceive her son, who was one of my students. I imagine it's much more affordable there,
Where did you move to, Mike?
Compassion seems distinctly missing from the MAGA's repertoire, Mike. It amazes me, too. No matter the absurdity, it's "Shoot first and justify later."
Check this map for the 125 Republicans and 19 Senators who voted for Life At Conception bills. Hold them accountable.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/02/25/map-of-maga-reps-who-voted-to-restrict-ivf-life-at-conception-bill/
See how Republicans are moving rapidly to a total ban with this infographic from overturning Roe v Wade, blocking travel out of state, banning abortion pills and now a ban on IVF.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/02/22/trump-total-abortion-ban-ivf/
AMEN. I'd love to ask them: who died and made THEM obstetricians?
Deepak, does this mean we have to change our wills if we had embryos frozen in Alabama?
I suspect that, to be safe, the answer would be yes.
The people elected representatives to represent their constituents not their own personal religious beliefs with total disregard for science. All these bans on women’s healthcare are based on religious beliefs, not medicine. This is totally unconstitutional and unconscionable! As women we are no longer guaranteed the same rights from state to state. We are no longer the United States of America.
So if I’m following, you’re reading the tea leaves that because the Supremes are taking so long to rule on Trump’s immunity claim, you’re guessing that the ruling looks like he won’t be immune but some Justices who wanted to grant him immunity are running a delay game by slow walking their dissent?
Can't wait to hear which judges dissent. Immunity will be added to the list of questions asked of all future Supreme Court justice confirmation hearings going forward, as if we can actually believe them.
You mean like not overturning Dobbs? All but three of the justices are completely compromised.
I was commenting generally about the possibility that some judges might be slow walking the ruling, which would be the only thing they could do to help Trump in that case if all others are not giving immunity.
Beyond a certain point, even Chief Justice John Roberts will have to rule that the decision will be made known and the dissents can follow when ready.....
Correct.
Thanks for your question, Charles. I had it the other way around. But I'm hoping she means as you suggest, that they will rule he is not immune.
Lynell, In my view, neither Trump nor his representation has any doubts that Trump’s claim of absolute immunity will be denied in both the J6 and Documents cases. The matter solely is about timing and whether at least 1 of these criminal cases goes to trial before voters cast their ballots. I would add these 2 are the only trials (the J6 trial more so than the Documents case) where a conviction could drive away close to a fourth of the voters who otherwise would vote for Trump. Accordingly, accounting for as many conceivable variables as my hardly full-proof acumen allows me to consider, I would submit our judicial system has held if the J6 case is decided before the election.
Thanks, BJ! I vote for your acumen, full-proof or not!
Slow walking the immunity decision until after the November election. At which point, if trump wins they grant immunity. If this happens God help us all…..
Kind of wish the times were not so interesting.
It should be enough to say— if you don’t believe in abortion, then don’t have one. Abortions are a very personal decision and not taken lightly by women who need them. MYOB tubby et al.
Every damn day.
Joyce, I hope you agree Trump’s argument that he was covered by presidential immunity when he committed various federal felonies in handling and hiding classified documents in Florida even in his personal desk drawer AFTER he left the presidency is ridiculous? Judge Cannon should see through that promptly and if not, the 11th Circuit will do so! Whatever one thinks about presidential immunity for a sitting President (which is an absurd concept), it is inconceivable that it would apply to criminal activity post presidential status. What do think? Thanks for all your superb advice and analysis!
Judge Canon has one major goal: protect Trump by delaying the trial! She should be dismissed, maybe disbarred!
I think she’ll screw this up and it goes before the 11th district. Then it’s bye, bye Cannon.
Yes, but WHEN?
The Citizen Kane Movie of Tomorrow: Citizen Trump
The classic movie Citizen Kane directed, produced, and stared in by Orson Welles will one day in the future, have a remake only this time the main pseudo-fictional character will be Donald Trump. The movie scene will open with a very bloated relic of his former self; uneven orange-smeared makeup slabbed across his face in bed. His overgrown blond hair similar to the unkept muss of Boris Johnson now showing gray roots from lack of up-to-date hair dye. He periodically wakes from a semi-conscious state at his future dilapidated Mar-a-Lago residence (for lack of having sufficient funds to upkeep the property from the litigants success in many past court cases.) He looks around demanding more Kentucky Fried Chicken wings as low paid service personal rush in another bucket and his last word is not “Rosebud” as in the movie Citizen Kane but:
“Stormy.” And the ex 45th president of the United States expires. The camera fades to black then opens at Le Club in the early disco 1970s, a members-only Manhattan nightclub in the East 50s, where models, fashionistas and a variety of Eurotrash (including his wives) went to be seen.
“The government has just filed suit against our company,” said Trump, “saying we discriminated against Blacks. What do you think we should do?”
The Roy Cohn obedient ass-kisser to Senator Joe McCarthy hearings accusing entertainment personalities of being communists shoots back, “Tell them to go to hell and fight the thing in court and let them prove you discriminated against them.”
Roy Cohn has become Trump’s go to lawyer and fixer.
Cohn admonishes the young Trump to 1. Never settle, never surrender. 2. Counter-attack, counter-sue immediately. 3. No matter what happens, no matter how deep into the shit you get, claim victory and never admit defeat. These lessons were found to the bases of his future self.
And so it go. So it goes.
Imagine Trump not being able to pay his staff, or even his utility bills. He'll flee abroad and live at one of his golf resorts, like in Scotland.
Or udder his last word.
And the band played on in the Cannon court. Samo Samo. Would be easy to give into the noise but we know better. Thank you for your dedication to prove the Rule of Law works. Gov Gavin Newsom made a strong case for Biden today on Meet the Press. We need all dems together making the case that there is only one option in November to sustain our democracy and our humanity. Should be easy enough but many are focused on the Middle East and I have concern about the Michigan primary coming up. Fingers crossed. Thank you Joyce for your strength and focus every day ☮️🇺🇸🗽🗳️🕯️🥁
Loved Gavin Newsome's strong statements.
One more important reason to vote for an old Biden: he is no longer concerned about playing political games. His eye is on his legacy.
“If Trump is re-elected I’m leaving the United States because I don’t feel safe… and you Ari, and anyone who has publicly been critical of Trump is at risk too.” said journalist Tony Swartz, to MSNBC legal expert Ari Melber. This broke the ice. Now other media stories tell of frightened Trump critics who are afraid he would have their passports voided if they try and leave the country to escape Trump’s promised retribution. Swartz mentioned Trump having an enemies list. As I’ve asked here months ago- does anyone believe that Joyce Vance isn’t on it?
Who knows who all is on it. Im trying to figure out how to retire in December if the orange moron is reelected. I will be trying to move.
Thank you Pam. I just heard from a friend who said that several of her progressive friends are planning on leaving the county if he’s reelected.
This is exhausting. Judge Cannon is no more than a shill for tfg. I have zero legal expertise but it seems apparent she is either completely inept or just doing his bidding. And then there's the R's relentless revenge tour - a second impeachment of Mayorkas, an ongoing impeachment of Biden, and (I think) ongoing stuff against Hunter. (I struggle to keep up with the insanity.) When in the he-- are the R's going to start legislating and stop mindless/meaningless prosecutions? They have a budget to pass!! And why do so many people support them?
Cheers to better days ahead! (A girl's gotta have hope.)
OK, I'll bite. Since the subpoena was made by a defendant for records that have no direct bearing on his case.....huh? What? How?
Given that neither the Secret Service nor the FBI's records for the 2021 time period 1/5, 1/6, could be found or released - what kind of bait is being used in this fishing expedition? Did the carrier suddenly improve its retrieval methods?
Who knows what carrier(s) were used (or are now) by the FBI and Secret Service?
Once upon a time it used to be AT&T. But that was back when dinosaurs roamed.
I had forgotten that. What an unfortunate time to wash all the clothes in bleach and buy brand new butcher knives. Oh dear, so sorry.
Here’s a quick guide to GOP antiabortion logic: if you want it, an embryo’s not a baby. If you don’t want it, it is a baby.
Of course Republicans can hypocritically do anything they want. But since they have put the definition of embryo as baby into the state constitution, I don’t see how the legislature can undo the state constitution, as definitively interpreted by the state Supreme Court.
And I think the Democrats’ position shouldn’t be to ask for exceptions within this idiotic framework, but to demand that the provision be repealed from the Alabama Constitution.
Plainly the exception makes no sense. If a fertilized egg has full personhood as of the moment of fertilization, what difference does implantation make? And by the way, are they also changing their position on IUDs? Are they now okay when they prevent implantation?
Any woman of child bearing age should leave the state if at all possible because, among other reasons, any failed pregnancy is suspect and may well be deemed a criminal act.
Two 10 year olds....i fear for their future.
Waiting for the time sperms are defined as pre-babies. Watch out, guys.
Certainly they are “human life.”
They look like tiny swimming dudes. Isn't that what counts? They can move independently, they have a goal in mind, so obviously they're thinking. And making plans for the future. Way more "baby-like" than a lump of unmoving cells.
Really, though, much though there is to be said for them, let's not be putting down the eggs. They're only unmoving until they can hook up.
So true, Susan - really!
Yes—birth control and IUDs are next up for the right-wing.
I have a question: assuming that four or more eggs are fertilized and become embryos, and that one or two of the healthiest embryos are placed inside a uterus; and should the woman receiving IVF choose not to freeze the embryos which aren’t being implanted, are those embryos discarded? If they are, and the Alabama Constitution alleges that life begins at conception, then are the laws that the Alabama Legislature is supposedly writing to protect IVF automatically unconstitutional?
If that’s the case, then this entire matter might head to the U.S. Supreme Court, who’ll have to decide when life begins. At least that’s how I’m reading this mess.
Well, Will, these legislators (if you can honestly call them that🙄) deem that the eggs are “babies”, I say dress those babies up and distribute them directly to these guys so that they can pay for their welfare, for a lifetime.
All kidding aside, couples who have frozen their eggs will no longer be the “owners”. They cannot even transfer their eggs over to an out of state facility. Couples rights are diminished.
What if these embryos’ owners (I’m speaking hypothetically-I’m truly sorry for the couples who have invested emotionally and financially in their dream of healthy babies) but what if these Donors abandon the embryos , at say, the equivalent of the baby boxes found at Alabama fire stations these days? If they do, will the state pay for preservation past viability (50+ years)? Will the state try to foster them to avoid the expense? Will the state go into the surrogacy motherhood business (which some IVF clinics already offer as an option once unnecessary embryos are released to the clinics’ care?)
Can’t someone look at this from the point of science? Embryos have no brains, no hearts, no senses. I am not heartless, and I’m not being immune to the heartbreak of infertility- I’ve been there. I just can’t see any good coming along the path our RW legislators and judges have taken.
You’re talking to the choir, Susan. The science is all there but the stupid and ignorant just ignore it. I see a lot of lawsuits happening in the very near future against Alabama and any others which want to take this matter up.
From @Noorillah “It seems important to know that an embryo is not a fetus. An embryo exists from the time of fertilization to 11th week of pregnancy (which is the 9th week after fertilization). At that point, it is defined as a fetus. What these judges have decided to call a child is not even a fetus, it is an embryo.
(And a fetus is not a child until it can survive independently of the womb.) The absurdity of this decision is gobsmacking.”
AND! Limiting IVF to one and only one implantation severely reduces the chances of a successful pregnancy. This is why they like to implant several embryos at once to make sure ATLEAST one will implant successfully and within a viable part of the uterus. It’s extremely expensive; patients pay cash, and to further reduce chances of success is really cruel. The whole process is already emotionally fraught.
In the event that there are multiple implants, this raises the risks for both the pregnancy on a whole and for the mother, while reducing likelihood of successfully making it to term. This is where “a reduction” is used—removing some of the embryos to enhance chances of viability for the remaining embryos.
According to the Alabama SC judges, and their infinite idiocy, a reduction would constitute an abortion.
And NO. Embryos are NOT children. Nikki Haley is a mouthpiece for extremists, not intelligent, not original and dead wrong about her lofty opinions.
Technically, the very beginning - before there is implantation and the subsequent multiplication of cells into an embryo, it is a blastocyst.
You are really challenging the limits of Repug comprehension! Especially the ones who insist the earth is only 5,000 years old!