"The U.S. Department of Justice-including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointed U.S. special counsel and the solicitor general, all of whom were involved in different ways in the criminal prosecutions underlying these cases and are opposing Mr. Trump’s constitutional and statutory claims — can petition the other seven justices to require Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves not as a matter of grace but as a matter of law." #SCOTUS#alito
Rep Jamie Raskin reveals that yes actually we can force Alito and Thomas to recuse - but Biden's people have to admit this and take action. Kinda the ultimate moment for liberal no-we-can't hand wringers isn't it
Here's the pay wall free link to his op ed in NYT:
If Democrats cannot compel their own Dept of Justice to act at this point in history, you have to ask what all the vote shaming hoopla really is for when it comes right down to it
@OtherRyn you know up until now i think their whoel strategy as a mafia-like organization is to use the specter of trump as a foil for fundraising, shaming, and strong arming their own progressive base. this is the moment where we see how far they take this plan
@OtherRyn possibly even more frustrating to watch from within. as someone who has tried to do get out the vote organizing for senate and other races, i can't help but grieve the (rationally justified) level of apathy among unlikely voters
Scientists have figured out why killer whales are smashing up luxury yachts: it’s a new fad among teen orcas. “A combination of free time, curiosity and natural playfulness has led to young orcas adopting this ‘trend’ of boat-bumping.” https://newatlas.com/biology/orcas-killer-whales-boats/
@kottke “But it's not due to some anticapitalist 'eat the rich' agenda, nor is it to do with territory and aggression. The truth is, well, it's child's play.”
the worst part of genocide is now. but the second worst part is after 20-30 years when sooo many assholes will say to your face "there was no genocide" and netanyahu gets turned into an inoffensive grandpa who gets gushing obituaries in big newspapers. people will try to make you feel like you're exaggerating the horror, this old crazy person, like you didn't SEE IT. like you didn't see the mass graves.
While I myself might not agree with everything student protesters choose to do, I find a certain genre of handwringing about their (not centralized/top-down) choices quite tiresome. If only demands could be expressed sufficiently moderately, then they'd really succeed! 🥱
@inquiline takes me back to the early days of Black Lives Matter when liberals were in my Facebook replies (lol) explaining to me how “Black Lives Matter” just needed to rebrand and not be so inflammatory etc etc — it’s like you realize these movements have no supreme leaders executing branding strategies right. Right?
@inquiline kinda crazy that it felt so personal at the time but same convos were everywhere (as they are now). I think it was easiest for white dudes to lose their shit about it with other white people & often younger women? like they couldn’t take this line of questioning to Black people (tho I’m sure many did sigh) but I remember being like why is this just a relentless reply to me personally for speaking in solidarity with people organizing their own movements?
so many brilliant scenes in this film but im stuck on the 5 judge panel discussing the book award, and the 3 white members agreeing—across their respective political divides—on a Black winner with their majority prior to the two Black members uttering a word. that the author of the winner is present but both hidden and silenced (by the publishing world and the micro aggressions of the meeting) goes without saying which ends up saying so much
which is not to say the movie is only about race, it’s also about genius, queerness, loneliness, art under capitalism etc. but the race inversions are pretty brilliant and important. can’t recall another film willing to cast every white character as a caricature, and that does so in service to such a cohesive & insightful cultural commentary