Spring Is Here, But There's No New Start! #229
By Hank Silverberg
Spring has sprung. The tulips are up in my garden, the weather is slowly getting warmer, the matzah is getting stale, and the Easter bunny has hopped away.
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I had been hoping this spring would also be a new start for America. But this spring, like last spring, the country remains divided, and American democracy remains under siege.
The Dominion Systems lawsuit is shaking up Fox News to a point where some who still work there might actually return to real journalism instead of partisan propaganda.
The unemployment rate is low, inflation is still a factor but seems to be slowing down a bit and Russia, so far, is losing its war with Ukraine at great cost. (The fact that Ukraine still exists, and NATO has expanded, with the addition of Finland, is a loss for Russia.)
And lo and behold, miracle of miracles, Donald J. Trump has been indicted, arrested, arraigned and could have to face a jury in at least one of the cases against him (maybe).
A new beginning?
Nope. Now comes the news that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in a position he will hold for life, has been taking huge gifts from a billionaire Republican donor that most of us have never heard of.
Donald Trump's corruption is something we have gotten used to. The outrageous and often hysterical pontifications of Congress members like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert have become so routine we can probably ignore them and focus more on stopping the actual regressive policies of the GOP that have made this decade look more and more like the 1950's when it comes to women's rights and social justice.
But despite a turn to the right in its decisions, the Supreme Court seemed untouched by the polluted political climate that has infected everything from the President's son to Hollywood. Their decisions, as regressive as they have been, still seem focused on the law and not the politics.
That was, until now.
Thomas, who came into the job in 1991 under the still active accusation of sexual harassment, (remember Antia Hill?) is now facing some additional, and perhaps more impactful, accusations of unethical if not criminal conduct.
Some will say that getting free high-end vacations and private jet travel from Dallas-based businessman Harlan Crow, a major GOP contributor, is not a crime.
Thomas says it was not "reportable" in his required financial disclosures. But that statement misses the point. In saying that, he fails to see that the appearance of corrupt or unethical conduct for a Supreme Court judge is substantial and puts everything the court does under suspicion.
Clarence Thomas reportedly received years of gifts from GOP donor, stirring scandal - ABC News
Thomas noted that Mr. Crow had no direct connection or business with the High Court, and Crow says he has never spoken with the Justice. I'm not sure that is the case. We must add that Gini Thomas, the Justice's wife, is very active in conservative GOP politics, and Crow knows this. You don't make such donations without expecting something in return, even if it's just the ear of someone in the decision -making process.
Add all this to Trump's ongoing corruption, the current regressive and almost totalitarian actions of some in the GOP particularly in the House, and you get more evidence that the average American is losing more of their supposedly accountable government every day.
It's not clear yet what all this will lead to, but certainly Justice Thomas should recuse himself from any case brought by or against or involving the Republican party or any Republican holding office. That should also be the case anything involving the January 6th insurrection. You can almost be sure he won't do that. And therein lies the reason he should resign.
Drought Gone?
Regular readers of this blog might remember the stories I wrote last year about the growing drought in the western states and how the water supply was at a record low.
Now the series of powerful storms these past few weeks that have been hitting California and other parts of the west have made some dents in that drought, though not necessarily in the damage it has already caused.
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| (This photo from Oregon) |
The end result could be higher prices at the supermarket for many farm- grown items.
Last year, wells were running dry and farmers were restricted on how much water they could use to irrigate their crops. But after three weeks of record rain and snow, the drought has reversed itself for in some areas.
The Sierra Nevada mountains have one of the biggest snowpacks on record, 239% above normal right now. But the worry is the potential for flash flooding as the snow melts this spring.
In the Central Valley area, the lake behind the Oroville Dam is 16% above its historic average, and more than 180,000 people downstream had to be evacuated when they opened the spillway to release the surplus.
Water restrictions have been lifted in some parts of California.
But there are still water shortages along the California-Oregon border and parts of Southern California that rely on the Colorado River.
What's important to note here is that the water supply is becoming a bit more sporadic and extreme, partially because of climate change. At the same time, the demand for water in that part of the country continues to climb.
The drought has already had a major impact on farmers and their crops, and that damage is likely to continue because of runoff from the big storms of the last few weeks.
https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap.aspx
Dramatic photos show how storms filled California reservoirs | AP News
2024 Presidential Race Update
Voters here in Virginia apparently don't think our Governor is ready for prime time.
A new poll indicates that Republican Glenn Younkin's approval rating in the state is at 52%, the same as his predecessor, Democrat Ralph Northam was at the same point in his administration.
But those same voters apparently don't think Youngkin would be a good president. Only 31% said yes when asked "Do you think Glenn Youngkin would make a good president, or not?"
The poll was conducted by the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
(See the full poll here: 3356762a-a0a7-4024-ad85-e519c27d5d8d.pdf (washingtonpost.com)
Youngkin has been mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for President or Vice President, though he has dodged questions about whether he wants either job. He is just over a year into his four-year term and is prohibited by Virginia law from running for a second term.
There is also an announced Democratic candidate who wants to challenge Joe Biden for the nomination. The name is very familiar, though the politics of it all may confuse people, especially older voters.
Robert Kennedy, Jr., the son of Bobby Kennedy and nephew of JFK, has announced he is running.
Normally the Kennedy name might bring lot of folks into the fold, but not this time. Robert Kennedy Jr, who made an early career supporting environmental causes, has lately turned to the dark side. He was vehemently opposed to the Covid-19 vaccine and actively campaigned against it. The Kennedy clan, which usually rallies around any family running for office, is NOT on board this time. Kennedy may, in fact, get more support from Republicans unhappy with the Trump/Desantis/Haley options.
Dumbest Quote of The Week!
I have been posting dumb quotes in this blog for over two years now, and this has got to be the dumbest of them all. It comes from the Republican- controlled North Dakota State Senate, where they were debating expansion of the free lunch program for low-income students in schools. The speaker is Republican State Senator Mike Wobema.
Go to this link and you can hear it for yourself.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1641169366019350529
The bill to expand the free lunch program failed 23-24.
A few days later, that same State Senate voted to increase the amount of money they get to spend on their own lunches. They voted 26-21 to increase the per diem meal reimbursements for State employees, including legislators, from $35 to $45. You can be sure that is not the price of one of those peanut butter or bologna sandwiches the kids would have gotten with their school lunch.
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HankSilverberg@gmail.com for instructions on how to get a copy at a reduced price and with my signature)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B084Q7K6M5/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-campaign-hank-
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