Things That Happened Today
And it's only Monday...
The Supreme Court heard oral argument in a case involving education and affirmative action. The law is well established in this area, so there's no reason to take the case unless they're going to change the rules. That means weakening if not ending the role of affirmative action in university admissions, both public and private schools. The court took two cases, one from each type of institution, presumably just to make its new direction clear. That’s discouraging. Race is only one among many factors that can be considered in college admissions, and unless you believe all the results of historical discrimination have been magically ameliorated here in 2022 with dog whistles and outright racism zipping around the public square, losing this one small equalizer for those seeking equal opportunity will be a huge loss for our future.
Sherrilyn Iffill, the former director of the Legal Defense Fund tweeted this about Justice Thomas’ comment during oral agument:
Judge Carl Nichols in Washington, D.C. dismissed Mark Meadows’ challenged to the January 6 Committee’s subpoenas to him, finding that he lacked jurisdiction to consider the matter. This was not the full ruling the committee sought, baring Meadows from successfully asserting executive privilege. Even so, Meadows will likely appeal the ruling and the delay makes it unlikely the committee will hear his testimony if Democrats don’t hang onto the House in the midterm elections.
We learned that David Depape, the man who attacked Paul Pelosi had a hit list with the Speaker’s name included on it.
By day’s end charges had been filed against Depape by both federal and state prosecutors. The federal complaint includes the 18 USC 115 assault charge we discussed the day the attack occurred, and also an attempted kidnapping charge, with Speaker Pelosi as the intended victim. The attempted kidnapping charge was supported by DePape’s confession when he was interviewed after the attack that, “he was going to hold Nancy hostage and talk to her.” Attempted kidnapping carries a penalty of up to 20 years in custody.
Meantime, Neither Donald Trump nor the official GOP Twitter account have condemned the attack. A few Republicans have, but still others, with louder voices, have tried to link it to general criticisms of rising crime under Democrats (which isn’t true) or worse. Elon Musk notably retweeted some of that worse; a false insinuation from the Santa Monica Observer, a paper known for spreading fake news and conspiracy theories of the rankest sort. The story offers the writers opinion that Paul Pelosi was involved in a sex scandal—an opinion that is faulty for multiple reasons and apparent on even a quick read of the original story. Musk was forced to take the tweet down, but hasn’t publicly said it’s false. Ditto, Texas Senator Ted Cruz who should know better than to repeat this kind of garbage, but apparently doesn’t.
I miss the Republican party pre-Trump. A party whose policies I frequently disagreed with but whose leaders I often liked and respected. We need leadership in both parties in this country who will urge Americans to take a deep breath and help the country walk back from the political violence that feels increasingly imminent. Whatever measured statements might issue from Mitch McConnell and a handful of other Republicans, they lack the sustained force to return their party to one that believes in free and fair election and lawful competition of ideas for the votes of American citizens. Nor have they served to unequivocally condemn criminally violent acts like the assault on Mr. Pelosi.
Sometimes a politician inadvertently use language that conjures a violent image. “We need to fight hard in this election” comes to mind. But that’s not what I’m talking about here. The message from some corners of the Republican Party is overtly violent and targeted at Democrats. If it’s just poorly chosen language, they should step up to acknowledge their error and encourage people who support them to disavow violence. That isn’t happening. Instead, this from GOP Rep Tom Emmer from Minnesota, posted on October 26. Emmer is a part of the House’s Republican leadership, serving as Chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee in the last two Congresses.
I had a little bit more to say about this on MSNBC this morning.
Tuesday November 8 is the last day to vote. Please share these thoughts and videos with friends and family if you think they might be helpful in encouraging them to vote for democracy and officials who will preserve it. We’re going to need every last vote for common sense that’s still out there in this country.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
I hope you are feeling much better this evening JV. Despite the current anti-American rhetoric and hate speech on social media and Elan Musk’s disgusting tweet fueling disinformation about Paul Pelosi’s attack and Kari Lake’s making fun of the situation among her followers, it’s been a tough day for all of us. The good, the bad and the ugly have all come to visit us on the same day as we approach a one week stretch to cast our votes to save us from tyranny and violence. I have channelled my outrage and fear into a deep understanding of clarity that I will not allow fear to win. I will see you on the side of justice for we will win. Thanks for your commitment to this all important cause. We applaud you.
I'm amazed that busy women like Joyce Vance work long hours on their "day jobs" and also spend time in front of cameras valiantly sharing their expertise on what most of us readers and viewers only somewhat know or think we know and then over and above normal expectations also find time to write about what's actually going on. Bottom line, she's exemplifying what it means to be informed, to be civil, to separate the wheat from the chaff (the fertilizer from the BS) and to VOTE TO SAVE DEMOCRACY, for the sake of common sense, decency, sanity. Civility just shouldn't be this difficult. Thanks for being a courageous leader, Ms. Vance.