Stephan: There is so much else going on that the Ginni and Clarence Thomas stench has not really registered recently. But it has come forward again, as this article describes. I understand the corruption of the integrity of the Supreme Court. What I find gobsmacking is the lack of integrity and honor of Clarence Thomas. An honorable man would retire from the court; wouldn't have put himself in this position in the first place.
Ginni Thomas with Clarence Thomas, her husband, at the White House in September 2019. The findings raise concerns about a possible conflict of interest at the highest levels of the US judiciary. Credit: Erin Scott / Reuters
Analysis of ‘amicus briefs’ shows how closely Clarence Thomas’s wife was entwined with rightwing effort to reverse 1973 ruling Ginni Thomas, the self-styled “culture warrior” and extreme rightwing activist, has links to more than half of the anti-abortion groups and individuals who lobbied her husband Clarence Thomas and his fellow US supreme court justices ahead of their historic decision to eradicate a woman’s right to terminate a pregnancy.
A new analysis of the written legal arguments, or “amicus briefs”, used to lobby the justices as they deliberated over abortion underlines the extent to which Clarence Thomas’s wife was intertwined with this vast pressure campaign.
The survey found that 51% of the parties who filed amicus briefs calling for an end to a federal abortion right have political connections to Ginni Thomas, raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest at the highest levels […]
MEGAN MESSERLY, ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN and ZACH MONTELLARO, - Politico
Stephan: The MAGAt Republicans didn't realize what Dobbs would produce, Michigan surprised them. So now they are trying as hard as they can to stop citizens from mounting ballot measures. The MAGAts are opposed to democracy. Here's the story.
Republicans on Michigan’s Board of Canvassers voted to block certification of a sweeping abortion-rights ballot initiative. The state’s Supreme Court overrode the decision on Thursday. Credit: Carlos Osorio/AP Photo
Republicans across the country are working to make it harder to pass ballot measures — a direct threat to abortion-rights advocates and other liberal groups’ efforts to bypass governors and legislatures and take issues directly to voters.
The next major test for the strategy comes in November: Arizona and Arkansas’ GOP-controlled legislatures are asking voters to approve constitutional amendments that would raise the threshold for ballot initiatives from 50 percent to 60 percent. Arkansas’ proposal would apply to constitutional amendments and citizen-initiated state statutes on any subject matter, including abortion. Arizona’s applies only to taxation-related measures, though some see it as a prelude to a broader version.
“Our state constitution … should only be amended when there is genuine consensus among voters,” said Arkansas state Rep. David Ray, the Republican who sponsored the proposed amendment. “[The ballot measure] provides a much-needed guardrail so that big money, out-of-state special interests quit […]
Stephan: I have a sense that we are finally coming to a conclusion with Trump, and that he will finally be held accountable for something. At least I hope I am correct. It would be wonderful good news.
MAGAt leader Donald Trump Credit: Mark Makela / Getty
That Donald Trump has acted recklessly and lawlessly, without empathy, as if he lives in a world devoid of moral rules, should surprise no one. Some of us warned back in the summer of 2016 that Trump was erratic, unstable, and temperamentally unfit for office. He had what I referred to then as a “personality disorder.” I believed then and I believe now that it is the most essential thing to understand about him. Trump in power couldn’t end well.
Trump never found a way to escape the antisocial demons that haunt him. But here’s what turned a personal tragedy into a national calamity: He imprinted his moral pathologies, his will-to-power ethic, on the Republican Party. It is the most important political development of this century.
The GOP once advertised itself as standing for family values and law and order, for moral ideals and integrity in political leaders. Such claims are now risible. The Republican Party rallied around Trump and has stuck with him every step […]
Stephan: The MAGAts understand just as Trump understood, they are a minority. They fear they can't win the elections fairly. So they are engaging in a strategy of assaulting the structure of the elections, as this article describes. What they want is power, whatever it takes to get it and hold on to it. I think it is very important that those of us who support democracy fully understand that the MAGAts are not supportive of democracy, and that we are going to have to stand up to their perfidious behavior. You might consider volunteering to work as part of the poll staff on election day.
Election officials across the country are concerned with potential violence and other disruptions compromising this November’s midterm elections. Some are even quitting their jobs as Donald Trump’s allies continue to push out false claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election.
Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson has made $8 million available for local clerks to bolster election security. More than 1,600 election clerks remain in constant fear for their safety, said Michigan Department of State spokesperson Angela Benander in a statement on Thursday.
“I am concerned about people being disruptive,” said Sommer Foster, co-executive director of Michigan Voices. “I’m concerned about people trying to intimidate voters. I’m concerned about dis- and misinformation. It’s something that we see a lot in Michigan, and so we are doing what we can to make sure that we have systems in place to fight against that.”
Foster, who works with partners on issues like election protection, voter suppression and educating voters about their rights, witnessed election clerks in 2020 being unfairly “maligned” and “attacked.” The harassment was so stressful, Foster […]
Katelyn Beaty , Co-host of the RNS podcast “Saved by the City. - Raw Story
Stephan: Sexual dysfunction, on the basis of the endless reports of molestation we see in the media nearly every week, seems to be one of the hallmarks of conservative religious movements. Hence, the evangelical employment of Non-disclosure Agreements as this article in a religious publication no less describes.
Credit: PxHere / Creative Commons
In 2019, pastor Rick Warren told a reporter why Saddleback Church — one of the most dynamic megachurches worldwide — didn’t use nondisclosure agreements: “We believe that our competition is not other churches, but rather the world, the flesh, and the devil.”
Warren’s comment hints at the original purpose of NDAs: to prevent employees of businesses from taking trade secrets to competitors — an Apple employee from taking the latest phone update to their new Microsoft gig.
Warren, by contrast, was apparently happy for Saddleback staffers to take their wisdom elsewhere, since all churches are playing for Team Jesus.
Saddleback’s new lead pastor may be less inclined to take such an open-handed approach.
In recent months, allegations of unhealthy leadership patterns have been lodged against Andy Wood, the new senior pastor at Saddleback and former senior pastor at Echo Church, a multisite congregation in San Jose, California. In response, Saddleback hired an executive search firm to investigate the claims and found “no systemic or pattern of abuse under Andy’s leadership.”
